Seven
by thestarisblue
Summary: Seven arrives at Rika’s apartment just in time. MC is safe. You don’t think that those calls and chatrooms and visual novels are all they’re doing when they’re together, do you? A more detailed story of Seven’s route from an MC’s point of view, and how she actually deals with Seven.
1. Chapter 1: Day 7 2115

_Seven arrives at Rika's apartment just in time. MC is safe. You don't think that those calls and chatrooms and visual novels are all they're doing when they're together, do you? A more detailed story of Seven's route from an MC's point of view, and how she actually deals with Seven._

 **Author note:** this will be the very first story I publish for years and I am so excited! English is not my first language, so feel free to point out the wrong grammar or vocab use if you find any. Enjoy!

 **Disclaimer:** The almighty Cheritz owns Saeyoung Choi and I thank them for that. I am enough with owning my MC which loves him till the end of the universe.

 **Chapter 1. Day 7. 21.15**

There I am, sitting on the bed, again, holding the phone loosely in my hand. The last talk with Zen just now still gives me a giddy feeling. So, the unicorn prince can actually freak out at the fact of me spending a night with Seven?

I smile at my phone and re-read the chat log. I told Zen the truth though, I am happy that Seven is with me right now. Though the encounter with… Saeran, as Seven called the hacker, is still fresh in my mind. I glanced at the broken window in the kitchen, just across the bedroom, and I find myself tremble. Slowly but sure, I grip my arms, ensuring myself that it was in the past now. I am safe.

I am safe.

And now I am with the person I really wanted to meet the most. Though in the back of my mind, I wonder if Seven is actually happy being here, especially, after everything.

I take a breath to calm myself and walk to the kitchen, there I see the remains of my attempt on making dinner for both of us. He coldly refused my offer without even spare me a glance, and I cannot help but losing my appetite when I remember that. I glance at the bathroom door at the end of the hall, slightly wondering whether the man that came to my rescue several hours ago is really the 707 I know from RFA app.

He is so… silent. He barely said anything ever since the hacker left. If I am not overly familiar with his voice, I would have kicked him out.

But it is him. His voice is something I can identify very easily, even though I practically never met him before.

But then again, we kind of bumped together into an unfortunate event and it is very much possible that the meeting with his brother bothers him. He must need time to sort out his mind.

I just need to be understanding.

With a sigh, I walk closer to the table, silently gather the partially chopped vegetables and put it in a bowl. I turn around to take it to the fridge when the bathroom door is opened. The redhead looks at me for a second while drying his hair, then proceeds to leave without a word. My eyes follow him until he is out of my sight into the bedroom.

It has not been three hours ever since he arrived here. And ever since he came, a wave of unknown emotion has been surfacing within me. I was pretty sure that I might act like a fangirl over the fact that Seven is finally here with me, but with our situation right now, being nervous of his presence is not even possible.

My eyes dart to the broken window again. My memory serves me with the sight of Seven forbade me to clean the kitchen, where the pieces of shattered glass were anywhere. I can see with my mind how he silently gathered the broken pieces into one place and safely dumped it to litter bin. Then, still as silent, he settled his laptops at the corner of the bedroom and started working.

Just like that.

I glance at the chopped vegetables in the bowl and suddenly feel determined to repeat the question I asked him almost two hours ago.

With that, I walk to the bedroom and find the man sitting on the floor, at the corner of the bedroom, typing quickly on his laptop, just the way I remember him doing that before he went to take a shower. Where does he put the towel he used to dry his hair? I look around the room and fail to locate it…

Wait, not that.

I was about to ask him the question.

"Seven?" I call out to him, and his typing stops, "Would you like dinner—"

"No,"

—I stop my mouth from forming another word.

This man, 707, Luciel, the self-proclaimed God Seven.

The one who first noticed me in chatroom.

The one who tricked me into saying I-love-you~ like a teddy bear.

The only one who has seen my face from CCTV.

The one who never stopped proclaim his love for Elly to the point of me dreaming of him and Elly exchanging vows in altar full of HBC and a priest in PhD Pepper costume.

The one whose voice, albeit the fact that he only seemed to be interested in taking my call in the last three days, grows on me. I found myself getting excited in the possibility of him taking my call, even when what we're talking about is nothing important.

His voice has been resounding in my head even before he said that my voice haunts his. I was very sure that I turned into a creep when I realized what his voice has been doing to me, but then I found out that my voice has similar effect to him. And being a similar type of creep with him sounds interesting.

Now there he is, at the other corner of the bedroom, his back facing me, silence emanates from his form.

While I am here, overrode by my wish to hear his voice in proper conversation.

Not his voice as he struggles to strengthen the fact that he positively trying to ignore me.

How can he ignore someone whose voice has been –as he said before— replaying in his head? He said it right? He said my face popped up his computer screen numerous times before. Then why on earth he's been doing this to me? He was so desperate about protecting me earlier today, but then… only to this extent?

Would he also come to this apartment if the one here is not me?

I stifle a groan as silent as I can (and I know I am unsuccessful) and throw myself on the soft mattress of the bed, curling up to hug my knees. I see him jolts a bit to the sound of rustled fabric, and probably, my voice. But he makes no further movement. I cannot help but staring at his back, determinedly making a hole on his head, his back, his shoulders, anywhere, just to make him say something to me.

Then he will turn around and say 'Gotcha!! I was just fooling around! Now let's go to the space station!'

No.

I should not be like this.

He's hurt. It doesn't take a genius to see it. His unwelcomed reunion with his brother must be nagging his mind more than I can imagine. His reaction when he saw Saeran burns my eyes again. The pain and fear in his voice was clear, as it rings again in my ear. I swore he was in the brink of crying when Saeran...

He shifts his position a bit and my train of thought stops. I swallow the almost unbearable urge to call him again.

He will just ignore me again. Like he did for the past several hours.

Closing my eyes, I tell myself again that I must understand his position. This is not easy for me, but this is enormously more difficult for him. His mind must be in chaos right now. I must be understanding. I must be someone who support him.

But… why… why doesn't he say anything to me?

He's been saying all those thing to me before he came here, and now he's giving me cold shoulder?

Silently, I get up and sit at the edge of the bed, so my feet now touching the floor. I must give him some time to sort his mind. Then he will be back to his cheery self.

Hopefully.

The bed gives off a soft creak when I get to my feet, my eyes are still on the redhead, when he turns around and looks at me. My eyes are widened by his movement, a feeling of anticipation rushes on to me and I try my best to subdue it.

"Seven?" I say slowly.

He sighs and stands up, gives me a pensive look and then looks away, "I'm sorry for barging in on your space. I'll just stay in the corner so don't mind me,"

I feel conflicted when I hear it. His voice seems to have lost the cheerful tone he continuously used on me before. Well yes, you're barging in. And yes, I am uncomfortable. But not because of you being here, but because you look like a lie presented to me with all of this wall between us!! And you're asking me not to mind you? Just what do you think I should do with that request?!

…is what I want to say to him.

But seeing him up close like this, with the undeniable streak of sadness on his form, I swallow my words and try to be as cool-headed as I can, "I am not uncomfortable at all. Just make yourself at home,". I give him the best smile I can give him. In the back of my mind, I believe it turns out to be a small and weak smile, but still a smile nonetheless.

He closes his eyes and pulls on the cable of his headphone calmly, "I feel better this way. I'll just work here. I'll stabilize the security system… and once I finish researching about that Magenta Saeran is at, I'll head there right away,"

When he opens his eyes, he gives me a brief glance before again, looks away, "I didn't want to be alone with you like this, but I guess the intruder left us with no choice,"

Wait, he said he didn't want to be alone with me? Then why was he so desperate about going here and save me? Why didn't he tell Jumin about location of this apartment and asked Jumin to keep it a secret? Jumin's bodyguards would come here using a helicopter or something and he would not have to be here with me alone. And Jumin will be more than capable to keep the location secret.

Oh, right, Jumin's men wouldn't be able to solve the algorithm of something he placed on this place, right?

Then if he's so bothered of being alone with me, he could have come with Jumin's men, unlocked the door, then left me with the bodyguards.

I mean, he's a genius, right? Why wouldn't he think like that?

Because the location of this place is confidential? Well, as I said, he could ask Jumin to keep the confidentiality on check.

He must have known that if something happened with special security system and he is about to repair it then it definitely means that he will spend his time with me. Alone when he keeps the location secret.

Why…? Why does he contradict his own act? Was he that desperate so he failed to think straight? Desperate to save me…? Or desperate to save this place because this place holds so many precious things to RFA?

Good, my head may explode if I continue ponder over this. Okay, let's test this theory: did he come here to save me… or the information?

I gather my thought together and shrug, then smile a bit, "I like it. Just live here!"

I swear the corner of his lips twitch a bit when he hears this, but it disappears as soon as it appears. He gives me a side glance, his expression turns serious, "I don't like it. You might be in danger if you stay with me,"

And against my will, I feel more conflicted. So, what is it that he wants to protect? It must be me, right? But why will it be dangerous? I blink several times as I try to process the fragmented information with my own little head.

"My agency will track down this place… and take me away. So you really have to take care of yourself," he continues slowly.

Right, the agency. He is a secret agent, isn't he? I frown as I realize that the one I am speaking with right now is someone who must conceal their identity. Everything clicks right at the moment: danger, secret agent, track down, take him away.

He is a part of something dangerous.

And by tracking down this place and taking him away… he is not running from something to come here, right?

What if… what if he was in the middle of highly classified mission when he found out that I was in trouble and he rushed here, leaving everything behind… just to save me? I stare at the redhead intensely. Seven… you're not in danger because of me, right?

"The agency…" I start, immediately cursing myself from trembling a bit, "…are you really okay with them? Are you being chased?"

Silence hovers between us as he exhales slowly. He looks like he ponders over his answer before finally says, "A little bit,"

I feel my nails dig into the flesh of my palm. There is a weird, acute feeling, that bubbles inside me in high speed, making me gasp, and become surprised by my own gasping voice. My feet slide forwards toward him, but I stop myself before even a complete step is made. What should I say now?

"But I'm the only one who knows the address to this place, so it'll take them a long time to find me here," he says it like there is nothing to worry about. I can hear the fake soothe in his voice as he continues, "I left my car someplace far because of that,"

I cannot help but glancing at the laptops and several other devices set on the floor around him. He ran from that someplace far to here, I say to myself. Should I even be asking whether he wants to protect me or the information of RFA?

He goes this far to protect me. Because I was here, all alone, unknowingly within the grasp of… Saeran. A stinging sensation appears at the back of my mind when I try to comprehend what Seven must feel when he met his twin that way.

The man in front of me turns around, now his back is facing me. "If I finish my work before I get tracked, I plan to disappear from the face of this earth…"

What?! My eyes abruptly dart back to him.

"Unless something happens, you'll be safe," he calmly continues.

I stare at the back of his head in disbelief, "Just what… just what is there on your mind?!" I whisper silently. I know my voice is too low for him to hear, since he keeps his back on me. An awkward silence envelopes us once again. I struggle with my own jumbled mind. He tries to protect me in expense of his… existence?

And he thinks I am okay with that?!

I am about to say something when he turns around, facing me again. He shoots me a look that makes me stop whatever it is on my tongue, and leave me with an even more confused mind. He holds my gaze as he continues his monologue, this time, his tone is firm, "Anyways, my point is that I'm a dangerous person… So I'll leave as soon as I can. Don't try to get so close to me,"

I tear my eyes off him and shake my head a bit. He is here, literally sacrificing his own safety for my own safety, but he wants me to stay far away from him? He is about to sit down to his previous position when I finally find some words to say, "But… you'll be uncomfortable in that corner,"

He sighs, now with annoyed tone, "I told you before, but this suits me better. If you have a sharpie, I'm all for drawing a line on the ground,"

No, not like this, I scream internally, "Don't you have anything you want to tell me…" Like what? I ask myself. What do I want him to tell me? Maybe… "… about your brother?"

He shoots me another look. His expression unreadable. "That's nothing for you to know," His tone is flat, but I cannot lie that it pierces something inside of me deeper than I anticipated. "It was a mistake telling you about him… Just forget that I ever mentioned it. I'm sure you have a lot of questions, but there's nothing I can tell you right now…" he must have seen the confused look on my face so I look away.

I keep my silence since I don't find any word to say.

"Just don't ask me anything," another flat but fierce word pierce me, "Maybe you should just pretend I'm not here,"

I grab my own arm to stop myself from trembling. How come he has this kind of tone, and use it on me? Am I being too sensitive here? Is he playing a role on me right now? Slowly, I weave my word, "Are you really going to be like this to me?" the words come out between nervous laughter and squeak, too weak for my taste, and I swear he can detect the frustration welling inside of me so easily.

"The reason why I hurried over here was to protect you,"

I shut my eyes tight when I hear that. I cannot even think clearly though I try to tell myself to cheer up at his confirmation that at least, at the very least, he is here to protect me, not just the information. Part of me feels happy, yet the other part is screaming in agony.

"I have no plan to pursue any sort of personal relationship with you, so know it as that. I'm sorry if you had any fantasies about me,"

My eyes open abruptly when he says it. I look at him, to find him not looking at me. His expression is still unreadable.

He does not feel the same about me.

But… he is here to protect me.

Then why can't he just leave me alone if he's not interested in me?

Because I am a part of RFA. I tell myself. He protects me because of that.

But, he said he kept hearing my voice over and over, and kept seeing my face on his screen!

Oh… stop it. I inhale quietly, finding myself tremble again at the searing pain that is originated from nowhere of my body.

Was he playing around with me when he said all that?

Something aches.

No.

The whole me aches.

I grip my arm tighter when I feel the familiar feeling of hotness in my eyes. Oh great, I am about to cry.

No. I will not cry. Not in front of him. I bite my lower lip to swallow an impending sob.

He seems to catch the change in my expression when he spares me another slide glance. His eyes find mine and when he opens his mouth, I cannot help but bracing myself for another painful word.

"This is who I am, so just accept it. Don't try to get close to me," the used-to-be-bright redhead says in finalizing tone, "I'm going to start working now so don't bother me,"

I tear my eyes away from him. At the same time, he sits down back in his previous position and starts typing.

I resist the urge to run away and try my best to calm myself down, all the while forcing my feet to slowly walk away from the bedroom. As the pain inside my chest grows bigger, I reach the kitchen, and finally let the teardrops spill from my eyes. Slowly, I cover my mouth with my hands, determined not to let him hear anything.

I slowly go down on my knee, then let myself sit on the floor. The night wind blows on the side of my cheek from the shattered window. I shut my eyes and my ear, trying my best not to let anything I've seen and heard ruin my conviction.

I can do this.

I can stand my way through this.

I've been through worse.

Slowly, I hug myself as tender as I can, "It's… alright…" I whisper to myself, "It's alright… Don't… let your emotion guide you…"

I don't know how long I shush myself from the silent cry, but slowly, I regain back my steady breathe. Slowly, I open my eyes, letting my vision gain back its focus through all the silent tears I shed. Adding another breathe to soothe myself, I slowly rise to my feet and walk to the tap.

I open the tap and wash my face, softly wipes the tears off of my eyes, and cheek, and neck.

I won't be crushed because of this, Seven, not before I make you talk with me properly. With that newfound determination, I walk back to the bedroom where the phone is, swiftly open the RFA app. After stealing a glance to the redhead at the corner of the room, I open his contact and press 'Call' button.

His phone rings beside him and he takes it. He stops typing when he reads the caller ID, then he puts down his laptop and makes a move to turn around. I don't even think further when I abruptly turn away from him, and I can practically feel his glare on my back. Wait, didn't I say that I will make him talk properly to me? How can I do that if the sight of him alone makes me this nervous? I mentally slap my head.

I am about to give up the call when he actually picks up. I gape slightly, frantically search for word when he beats me to it, "…What is it? Why did you call?"

I exhale slowly to calm down my nerve, "Can you please just look at me?" with that, I slowly turn around.

He clicks his tongue and act all irritated to hear my words, "We're in the same house. Why do I need to look at you? I'm here. Isn't it stupid to talk on the phone when we're in the same place?"

Well yeah… that was stupid, but… "But I want to talk to you Sev—" I say as I start to walk toward him.

"A-ah… don't come closer. We need to keep our distance!"

And I stop on my track. Fighting the pang of pain inside me.

"I always work alone. It's uncomfortable just being with you here," he continues.

Uh… this is just stupid. I should have known that this is how everything will turn out. With that, I make a quick move to leave the bedroom.

"Oh!! Stop! Stop there!"

I stop my track again when I hear him shout on the phone. I am just a millimeter away from leaving the room. Curious, I turn to him, "What? Is there something wrong?"

His eyes meet mine and I swear for a flash millisecond I see worry sparks out from his golden orbs, "…Please don't disappear from my sight though. It makes me nervous,"

I stare at him dumbfounded, "Huh?" He doesn't want me to do what?

He twitches a bit then he stands up, though he makes no movement from his spot, "I know you're uncomfortable with me suddenly coming here… I'll try to solve this as fast as I can and go back so please just hang in there. From this moment, I'm just going to stare at the wall and work so don't call me, and don't talk to me. I need to focus,"

Still with the very same dumbfounded expression I stare at his form. I am still holding my phone on my ears, and his voice echoes twice inside the room for me. I don't need further explanation that he doesn't want me to be around him. But… does he even realize that he is still holding the phone on his ear? Why didn't he cut off the phone and talk to me directly like he wants me to do too?

"But don't disappear from me just because of that. I can sense you moving so just stay still there. You can read if you're bored,"

Wait, what? Sense? Just… what is he trying to say? He doesn't want me near, but he doesn't want me disappear?

"And… wear a jacket or something," I swear he pouts just before the looks away from me, but his face expression turns solemn again very soon. "And don't skip your meal because I am, okay? Then I'm going back to work,"

With that, he ends the call, sits back and starts typing again. Just like nothing has just happened in the room. I cannot help tilting my head when I realize that he even took my call and speak to me **_on the phone_** while we're in the same room all the way until he finished talking.

Isn't it stupid, you said? Oh well, you are as stupid as me then. And, asking me to wear jacket? I look down at my short-sleeved black shirt. It has boat-neck style but it is not low enough to reveal anything inappropriate. I shake my head a bit, someone does not make sense here.

I take a look at my phone and closes the RFA app. After inhaling a breath, I open my mouth, "Seven?"

He doesn't stop typing. But with his headphone laying on the base of his neck, I know he hears me.

"I cannot stay still cause I'll need to move around the house, but… I am not going to disappear on you, I promise," I announce.

I catch the sudden pause of the typing sound, and it is enough indicator that he hears. More or less, I manage to see that he is indeed the same quirky person I have come to know. He really is the very same person with Seven. Or 707. Or Luciel. Or God Seven. I stare at his form with more relaxed gaze. Whatever sadness that overtook me earlier slowly drains itself. I climb on the bed, intentionally make the fabric rustles more than necessary to let him know that I am here with him.


	2. Chapter 2: Day 8 0107

**Chapter 2. Day 8. 01.07**

I wake up to the typing sound. Oh geez, I fell asleep. My mind focuses on the sound almost instantly, Seven still continues with his work. I find him at the corner of the room. Slowly, I get up from sleeping form, and only then a smooth caramel-colored fabric with starry accents slides down my form.

My blanket!

Oh, right, I have just washed this one. I was planning to iron it along with other clothes last night but I guess I forgot it altogether.

My hands slide through the fabric and I can tell that it's been ironed from its smoothness. I immediately turn to the typing redhead at the corner of bedroom, a giddy feeling finds itself resurfacing in me.

He did this for me, even though his words were nowhere near pleasing to hear. I smile to myself.

I was right.

He cares. In a roundabout way, though.

I take the lying phone near me and look at the time. It's past midnight. My hand moves itself opening the RFA app. Jaehee was online last night, too bad I slept through that.

Then a new chatroom pops up, the indicator shows that Zen is online. I snicker silently as I remember how he freaked out yesterday evening and I cannot help the urge to tease him again. And with that, I log into the chatroom.

And yeah, Zen starts the chat with a topic about Seven. I almost laugh out loud when I glance at the redhead across the room. His earphone is now on his ears, and the typing sound is steady. I stare at his back incredulously then type my answer to Zen, "He kept glancing at my pajamas earlier, do you think something's up?" with smiling kaomoji.

I stifle a laughter when Zen immediately send me the surprised emoji, followed by him shouting at me to give the address. God, it's so easy to rile him up. I am about to tease him further when Jaehee entered the chatroom. I look at Seven's back when the chat somehow shifts back to my current issue of being almost kidnapped by the hacker, and that the hacker is supposedly as talented as Seven.

When Zen starts to ask me whether Seven is being good to me or not. I sigh, should I tell him that he's been into tsundere paradox realm? But he was nice enough to iron my blanket, and draped it on me, I tell myself. If he's up to something funny, he wouldn't let the chance of getting an advantage on me when I was sleeping.

I am pretty sure that my skirt must be accidentally revealing something more when I was sleeping, I slap my head.

But then again, my pranking-button is still switched on.

With that, I type another teasing answer, "I am a bit disappointed that all he's doing is work," and Zen quickly type, "Then just come here, I'll always be here for you," with his signature flirting emoji. I giggle, knowing that he is merely kidding with the invitation.

Or not.

The unicorn-prince starts to flood the chatroom with big-sized description of things I should be careful of while having Seven around. Like, when he's panting as if he's run a mile. Or, when his eyes are half-closed. I cannot help but laugh a bit loudly at Zen and his seemingly unnatural argument of 'all men are wolves' are on the move again. Though finally I manage to assure him that nothing is going on, I still find it funny.

And heartwarming, to be honest.

I can grasp the fact that Zen is just worried about me. Similar to Jaehee and Yoosung too. And I can vouch that Jumin, in his own special way, is also worried about me.

I smile at the home screen of RFA app. If it's not because of their sincerity, I would have left this apartment and ran away to my version of safety. But I feel the genuine care they have for me, so I cannot help but staying.

I glance back at the redhead across the room when the typing sound paused.

What's in your mind, Seven? I silently ask his form.

I stare at his back for several more minutes, then he starts typing again. Slowly, I climb down the bed and walk to the bathroom to wash my face. Near the bathroom door, I see the pile of unwashed clothes on the basket. Rubbing my eyes, I decide to wash them since I am not really fond of having dirty clothes around. With that, I change my skirt into a more comfortable short and pull off my brown sweater, revealing the black shirt I wear beneath.

I am about to start the washing machine when a thought comes to me. Seven will not freak out for not finding me on the bed, will he?

Maybe I should tell him that I'll be away from bedroom.

With that, I walk back to the bedroom.

Only to find his typing speed has gained more speed. I contemplate a bit, then reach out for my phone, open the app then quickly find his name and hit the call button. I intently look at him as he reaches for his phone while typing with one hand then stare at his phone screen, as if debating with himself to pick up, or not to pick up.

But he picks up after the third ringing tone, with an irritated sigh, "…Why do you like calling me so much? You can just talk to me directly…"

I tilt my head a bit, "You didn't seem like to want to talk to me directly,"

He groans without while turning around, I can see the annoyance dances in his yellow orbs, "That's because you keep talking about useless things. You like my hair, you want to take off my glasses, and all that. Why do you want to anyway?"

"Because your hair is pretty, and your glass is so intriguing. So, can I touch it?" I ask as I move closer to him.

"Oh wait, don't come closer to me. Uhm… it's uncomfortable, okay?" he abruptly makes a gesture with his hand and completely stop my track. He sighs, "Anyways, you're so strange. You're so playful all the time,"

Me? Playful all the time? Well, yeah, I won't tell you that I cried a little back then. Sighing to myself, I decide that he doesn't need to know that I want to do the laundry. "Right, sorry to bother you," I say in a fake cheerful tone and walk away from the bedroom.

I am about to put down the phone on the kitchen table when he talks again, "Wait… Why are you walking around in the kitchen?"

I turn around and see him on the bedroom's doorway. I look at him and point out the basket near the bathroom door, "The laundry keeps bothering me. I want to take care of it before going back to bed,"

"Laundry?" he turns to the pile I'm pointing at, then turns exasperated, "No! Don't touch that pile!" he raises his hand with a mortified expression.

I blink, "What?"

"I'd take care of it!" he half-shouts across the room, "Just leave that pile alone,"

I shake my head a bit, "It's alright, you have a lot of work to do anyway,"

His face shows complete disbelief, "Are you teasing me right now?"

"No! Why should I?" with that I pin the phone between my ear and my shoulder, then proceed to pick up the basket.

"GAHH!! JUST LEAVE IT! I have my shirts and my… my everything there! I can't let you do my laundry!" and the basket is snatched away from me in lightning speed. I turn at the exasperated redhead that is now standing right in front of me, cradling a basket in one hand, and keeping the phone on his ear with his other hand.

When he meets my eyes, it is a pure bewilderment that I see in his eyes. "Please, I'm begging you, just sleep. Drink things in the fridge. Don't eat things that are scattered around me," he says quickly.

And I stare dumbfoundedly at him. Did he just… contradict his words again?

"… and, stop staring at me all the time," he continues. Twinge of red dances on his cheeks. I swear I see that.

"It's not all the time! You knew I was sleeping!" I defend myself.

"AND!" he doesn't seem to take my words into account, "If you keep calling me here, someone might tap us so please stop. I don't have time to fight against that too. Things are dangerous enough already…"

Then you can drop the call and say it to me directly instead of keeping on with the call when you're practically within my reach… is what I want to say to him. I decide to swallow it down just in case he still doesn't want to talk to me directly.

With another sigh, he walks away from me, taking the basket with him and enters the bedroom, "I'm just gonna stay quiet over here so you go to bed. That's helping me,".

I trail behind him into the bedroom and climb over to the bed, the phone call is still on, "Tell me an old story," I say to him, my voice comes out like both whine and challenge, "Like the one your mom told you in the past,"

He groans and gives me an annoyed look. He sets the basket down and sits back on his previous spot. He visibly inhales and exhales, trying to calm himself down.

Okay, this is going too far. I open my mouth to apologize—

"A long long time ago, there was a princess," he starts with flat tone. My jaw slowly falls as he continues, "The princess liked to sleep and slept well every single day. She faced dangers but they all disappeared while she slept and then she lived happily ever after. The end! Happy now?" he snarls at me, still with similar annoyed expression.

I stare at him in disbelief, then I feel my lips twitch.

Several seconds later, I end up smiling and giggling at the same time. I look back at him, finding his eyes glued at me with unreadable expression, and then I nod enthusiastically several times, "Yes! I'm happy!"

He tears his eyes off me and rubs his forehead, "Seriously… don't be a baby right now," his tone softened a bit. I feel giddier and cannot help but giggle some more.

"Go to bed. I have to get back to work…" his tone gets softer while he shifts his position so now he is leaning on the wall, facing me with his laptop on his lap. He looks back at me, gentleness emanates from his orbs, "I'll be watching you sleep…"

His eyes catch mine and I gasp silently. Wh-what's with that expression? I cannot tear my eyes when affection exudes so strong from his facial expression. I almost choke my breath. Does he do it unintentionally? Or intentionally?

"…so don't worry and sweet dreams," he says slowly with a finalizing smile and something in my mind goes haywire. This is the first time he uses that voice tone on me and it literally stops my brain from working properly. And his smile… he is… actually smiling at me. He keeps my gaze as he slowly put down the phone and I tell myself that I need to do the same.

Wait. This man is an agent. He must be familiar with techniques of captivating people, right? He must be more than capable to read and handle and control _and persuade_ people to do what he wants. I should never let him sway me with his words, or his expression, or his tones, or his eyes, or… or…

Or his voice that has to start resounding in my head.

And he is in the same room with me. So, the voice gains twice of its usual amplitude.

Stop.

Stop this. I shake my head a bit, effectively tear my gaze off of him. I put down my phone and answer half-heartedly, "Alright, I'll sleep,"

"Good," his voice is heard again, still with the same voice tone and this time it is full of relief.

God, this man can kill me with his voice only, I mentally slap myself. Not wanting to look at him anymore, I dive into my blanket and turn around, so my back is facing him. I throw the blanket over my head just in case my ears are giving off some steams.

Wait.

I abruptly get up from my sleeping form, then turn around, only to find him look still looking at me.

"Seven," I start slowly, "Thanks for… the blanket,"

I watch as his eyes are widened in surprise, "W-Well, it's… it's alright," he looks anywhere at the room but me, the tinge of bashfulness is too adorable for me to ignore. I smile at him again and curl up on my side, "Good night, Seven,"

After several second of silence, he answers me softly, "Good night,"

With his voice keeps resounding in my head, I fall into deep, dreamless sleep.


	3. Chapter 3: Day 8 0855

**Chapter 3. Day 8. 08.55** I silently chew the breakfast on living room as I chat with Yoosung and Zen. Honestly, I partially fail to understand Jumin's way of thinking. Why on earth does he have to make Yoosung's mother comes? I can sense that Jumin is actually worried about Yoosung being addicted to LOLOL and, yeah… honestly I cannot imagine that Yoosung lives a healthy and purposeful like this. Yoosung has been telling us for a while about his effort to make kimchi and I cannot help but laugh a bit at how he cries over onions. It doesn't help that Zen continues to tease the younger man.

Well, a little more time might be needed for Yoosung to actually understand why his mother keeps lecturing him.

And… now the he is asking me whether he can come over to the apartment too. I would give him a straight no but then again, Zen is here, and I cannot help but wanting to make another prank. And so, I type, "I like staying here in Seven's arms by myself,"

Zen immediately responses with his usual overprotective reaction, and Yoosung gives me knowing emoji. Of course, I know that Yoosung basically wants to escape his mother's grasp, and his wish to help Seven lies on the second top reason for coming here. Their reaction makes me laugh by myself. I continue chatting with them for several more minutes before closing the app. After finishing my breakfast, I walk to the sink and wash my plate.

My mind immediately shifts to Seven.

He has been typing since last night, with no sign of slowing down. Even when I woke up this morning, he's still glued to the spot he's been, ignoring me altogether as he works with his headphone on. My question of whether he wanted breakfast flies by him like dark matter colliding with humanity. Not even a slight response.

How about now? I wonder silently. With that I start walking to the direction of bedroom and noticing that the typing sound is no longer heard. Instead, his voice is faintly heard.

"Yes, can you come?" his voice becomes clearer as he appears at the bedroom's doorway. He spares me a glance before looking away, "Yeah, thanks. I'll be waiting,"

"Is somebody coming?" I ask him curiously.

He fiddles with his phone, "I ask someone to repair the window," he said in a flat tone, "He'll come in an hour,"

I nod, "I see. Thanks, Seven. Would you like breakfa—" I stop midsentence when he disappears to the bathroom, just across the hallway.

I sigh. Nope, I won't let this shatter me, I say to myself. And just then, my phone rings. Jaehee's caller ID flashes on the screen. I pick up her call and sits on the chair inside the kitchen. "Hello, Jaehee,"

"Good morning, it's me. The first task Mr. Han gave me after he got out of his flight was to ask you how you are doing,"

I cannot help but smile. Jumin can call me by himself, so maybe something happens to Elly, the kind that makes him unable to pry his eyes off of the cat princess.

"Oh, that doesn't mean I don't want to call you. It's nice to hear your voice," Jaehee abruptly adds. "Did you eat breakfast yet?"

I chuckle a bit, then proceed to tell her about my breakfast.

"Do you think Luciel ever eats a proper meal?" Jaehee asks me, and the said redhead opens the bathroom door, walks past the kitchen and continues to the bedroom again. Ignoring-phase, huh? I say to myself.

"Since you are with him, he might listen to you and get a proper meal if you talk to him," Jaehee continues.

I sigh a bit, "Actually I've been asking him, but he told me not to bother him,"

Jaehee pauses for a bit, "…he must be very focused on his work,"

"Yeah…"

"Still," she continues, "he could have said it in a nicer way…" Jaehee continues to rationalize why Seven said those words to me. I smile at her effort to make me feel better. "If it bothers you that much, why don't you try putting a couple of snacks around him?"

"I feel like we are talking about cat right now," I giggle. "Anyway, Jaehee… is Luciel usually this quiet?"

"He's quiet…? Are you serious?" she sounds confused, "At times I find that he talks too much… I don't know,"

"Hmm…" I glance at the bedroom.

"Perhaps," Jaehee continues carefully, "…perhaps he is showing you a different side of himself?" then she hums and I can imagine her brows knit together in further confusion, "I can't really imagine but perhaps Luciel just feels embarrassed,"

"Embarrassed?" now that's something that never occurred to me before.

"It's the first time that you two have met. I'm sure the ice will break soon," she says reassuringly. Too soon, she realizes that she is about to be late for her meeting, and bid me farewell.

I cannot help but thinking when Seven will open up to me. I walk to the bedroom and find him facing the wall again, his headphone is on his ears. I glance back to the kitchen and starts putting several ingredients together to make quick breakfast, then pour orange juice into a glass. Putting them together in a tray, I start heading back to the bedroom.

When I see his back, I start to doubt myself.

What if… he doesn't want this?

What if… he throws this to the floor like how it's frequently seen in the movie?

I shake my head to clear my mind. My intention is to help him, like he is now trying to help me by protecting me. If he throws this food like the that, well… at least I'll clean it up.

Exhaling a breath, I walk carefully to his form. The typing sound becomes clearer as I proceed nearer. He seems to sense me as he stops typing as soon as I reach his side. I steel myself to hear anything from him, and even to get the food thrown away, but he merely jolts away when he notices my presence. This is my chance.

"I told you don't—" he starts, but I cut it off by putting the tray down beside him, "This is your breakfast, you can throw it away if you don't want it, but I will appreciate it if you eat," I say it all as quick as I can, then abruptly stand up and leave him.

"Hey—"

But I already run out of the bedroom and heaves a breath of relief once I am out of his sight.

Wait.

I am not out of his sight. Quickly, I turn into the CCTV installed in the hallway, and I can practically feel his gaze through it. Determined not to let him see my wariness, I wave to the CCTV, trying my best to look cheerful. Then I walk to the living room and turn on the television. I hope that at least I won't hear anything if he decides to throw the food away.

Half an hour later, I hear him in turning on the water tap. Carefully, I pry into the kitchen, and feel relieved that he is currently washing empty plate and glass.

 **Author note:** this chap looks a bit lazier than other posted chaps, so I posted another chapter ;)


	4. Chapter 4: Day 8 1015

**Chapter 4.** **Day 8. 12.49**

'It's a bomb,'

Seven's word has been replaying itself in my mind. It caught me off guard, but seeing his condition right now, I understand that he is not kidding. I have been living with a bomb for a week now. I shift under the shower to let the warm water hit my face, in my effort to wash away the nervousness in my system.

So that's why he rushed here. Because if something happened back when Saeran was here, the... the bomb might go off. And killed everyone. I adjust the shower so the water hit wider portion of my trembling body. Just what was Rika thinking?

Must be something good. My angelic side says.

But didn't she think that it would be inconvenience if one day she left the RFA? Like now, she's dead, and so, we… I mean, Seven, becomes the one taking blame of it all.

Something might be wrong with RFA during Rika's time. That… or, Rika herself had something big happening that forced her to protect RFA's information to that extent. That… or, simply there's something wrong with Rika.

But everyone loves Rika, even now. The probability of Rika being the wrong one here is very slim.

I sigh. That's why both Seven and V warned me not to open any drawer, huh? Because the bomb might go off too? I spent the last two hours to sneakily observe the house closer. As much as I am afraid, I cannot help but trying to find out where the bomb is implanted.

Right, I am trembling again now. Why? Because I cannot find anything strange inside the apartment until now. Seven was the one who planted them, right? I find myself trembling again at the fact that he is indeed a dangerous man, for camouflaging the bomb this good.

Or maybe I just too naïve to identify the bomb.

Or maybe the bomb is somewhere inside one of the drawers. I mean, they forbade me to open any of them, right?

I shake my head violently. Then stop abruptly when I realize that the shampoo scatters to all direction. Quickly, I wash the remaining shampoo on my head and clean the scattered shampoo around the bathroom.

Seven is here, I tell myself silently. Everything will be alright.

With that thought, I turn off the shower and dry myself off.

Several minutes later, I enter the bedroom, still bringing the towel to dry my hair. I reach for the bed where my phone is, when I feel something tickles my left foot. I jump in surprise and look down, only to see something frightening scrambles away from where my foot is.

I gasp.

T-That is... That is…!

I jump onto the bed; the fabric rustles a bit loudly. I grasp my phone and try my best not to scream when the frightening primitive creature appears again at the same spot as before.

"Se… Seven…" my voice trembles when I turn to the redhead at the other corner of the bedroom, only to find him with his headphone on, typing away whatever it is on his laptop. On the bed, I scoot closer to the wall while opening the RFA app and desperately hit the call button on his profile. My breath becomes labored and my eyes becomes hotter.

Finally, he picks up, "Again? You don't give up, do you?" just at the same time when the frightening primitive creature pops up from the corner of the bed.

…whaTEVER!!!! "COCROACH! COCHROACH! SAVE ME!!"

The redhead abruptly slams his laptop shut and turns around, "What? A cockroach?! Where? Where?! First get out of here! I'll take care of it so go wait on the sofa!!" his runs to the bed as I jump standing on the bed right now when the frightening primitive creatures scoot closer again to the bed, "I CAN'T!! THEY'RE THERE!! GET IT AWAY! PLEASEEEE!!"

The redhead grabs nearest magazine and rolls it like a stick in one hand while he moves to the location I point out, then slams it on the floor, only to miss them "How the hell did it come in…?!"

I cry out when I see those creatures again, now they slip under the bed and I jump on the bed frantically, "NOOOO!! THEY'RE HERE! THEY'RE HERE!!" I scream fearfully. He grabs my hand and drags me down the bed, leads me in hurry to the living room, "I'll spray enough pesticide for it to die so don't worry, just wait a bit!" he let go of my hand and rushes to the kitchen, supposedly to find the pesticide, then runs back to the bedroom.

I hear the spraying sound several times as I curl up on the sofa, my whole body is trembling. My phone is still on my ear and I can hear him hissing as he fights the frightening primitive creature.

Several minutes later, he emerges from the bedroom, the phone on his hand. With a sigh, he put on the phone and walks to the living room, "Whew… alright, everything's good… Huh?" he stops on the track when he sees me, his eyes are widened in surprise, "Y-You… You're crying?! Why?"

And hearing that… I cry harder instead.

He approaches the sofa hesitantly; his mouth opens and closes without voice and he blinks nervously. His free hand hovers midair, clearly unable to decide what to do.

"… I was so scared," I say between my sobs, as I try to wipe my flooding tears with my free hand.

He reaches the sofa and sits on the floor in front of me, still as hesitant as before, "…You're scared of bugs?"

I nod weakly, my tears still fall freely.

He exhales slowly, "…If you're afraid to sleep there, do you want to sleep here on the sofa?" he says, surprisingly softly, "I can be near the door, or wherever you can see me, I don't care,". I bit my lower lip to prevent another sob from going out, and I raise my eyes to look at him. His gaze is surprisingly soft and comforting, I cannot help but sob again.

"Don't cry… It won't come back," he continues softly, "Stop crying," he says reassuringly.

But his tone is so kind, and somehow, I burst into tear again. My whole body is trembling.

He stares at me with confused expression as I cry. Now, what's happening to me? Why cannot I stop crying? Am I still crying over those frightening primitive creatures now? Am I crying because his tone is just… so… unbelievably kind it hurts? I don't know anymore.

He exhales frustratedly, "God… Don't cry…" he rubs his forehead; his expression is a pure confusion, "What should I do…?"

And there I am still trying to stop my tears.

He looks at me expectantly, "I'll go look at every corner of this house, okay? Stop crying…" his tone now turns into pleading one.

I gaze at him between my tears, "Seven…" my voice comes out like a croak, but he immediately searches for my eyes once he hears that. I try to clear my throat before continuing, "Can you… can you hold my hand? It's shaking…"

His eyes are widened at my request. He opens his mouth then closes it again, then he looks at me hesitantly, "Can I… really hold your hand?"

I bit my lower lip, staring at him pleadingly. Silently, I reach out for his hand.

The redhead glance nervously between my hand and my eyes, as if trying to confirm whether I really want him to hold my hand. He closes his eyes for a second, then, as if all his doubt is cleared up, he takes my hand in his steadily. I stare at his hand as he circles my hand, holding it securely into his larger one.

Ever so slowly, my hand stops shaking.

"You hand is so small…" he mumbles quietly, though still loud enough for me to hear, then he shakes his head quickly, "Oh… I'm not doing anything weird, I just want to comfort you,"

I swallow back a sob.

He scoots up to sit on the sofa, my hand is still secure in his, "It's weird to be on the phone when we're this close. I'll hang up now," and with that he put down the phone.

Slowly, I put down my phone too, putting it on the sofa and use the hand to wipe my tears, while my other hand is still on his, now, two hands. I'm sorry, is what I really want to say to him right now, but somehow, my lips are sealed, only some small sobs escape. I look at his hands, which is now rubbing small circles on mine, on his attempt to calm me down. I am lack of courage to raise my head and look at him right now, but I can feel his gaze on me.

I wonder why I am crying. It is true that I am so afraid of bugs. The frightening primitive creature is especially scary for me, but I never cry this much when dealing with them. I guess… I guess half of my reason to keep on crying is because his kindness is painful to me.

Why?

Because he clearly says that he doesn't have any intention to pursue any personal relationship with me. He is not interested in me.

Because at the back of my mind, I realize, that his words hurt me way too much than I want to admit.

And his kindness looks so sincere it hurts me more.

No.

This has to stop.

I swallow another sob and slowly pry my hand from him. For a moment, I swear he retract my hand back, as if unwilling to let me go, but then, he loosens his grip, and let me withdraw my hand. I gather my courage to raise my head and look at him. When I meet his eyes, I swear I see a gaze full of worry and… affection?

No. I must be mistaken.

"…you're alright?" he asks, in the same softened tone he used just before this.

I nod weakly and force a smile for him, "…I'm sorry,"

He shakes his head quickly, "No, it's okay. Just… tell me if there's anything I can help,"

Thousands of thoughts come rushing into my mind. Why? …Why is he so kind to me after all he said before? Why? Why are his eyes full of worry right now?

"T-Then…" he slowly stands up, "I'll go looking at the other part of the house. I'll make sure they're nowhere to be found again," then he quickly turns around to the hallway.

"Seven!" I call abruptly. He stops on his track but doesn't turn around. I stare at his back then, "Thank you, really,"

He doesn't turn around. He doesn't say anything. He just stands with his back to me for several more seconds then walks away. And I am left with heavily conflicted feeling.


	5. Chapter 5: Day 8 1400

**Chapter 5. Day 8. 14.00** I stare at the last chatroom in my hand as I curl up on the bed. Then my gaze shifts to the redhead sitting at the corner. Seven still blames himself for what is happening right now. Deep inside, I can understand his urge to go to Mint Eye soon, and I am pretty much confident that I would do just the same thing if I were him.

But having him shouldering everything feels unfair to me.

Gripping the phone on my heart, I raise to my feet, telling myself that the frightening primitive creature is no longer alive anywhere in the house. Silently, I take several steps toward him.

He is typing steadily. An empty chip bag lies beside him. The headphone is on his ears, and I can hear subtle music coming from them.

"Seven…?" I call him expectantly.

But he doesn't show any sign of hearing me.

I swallow back my urge to call him again and walk as silent as I can out of the bedroom.

Grabbing my purse, I make a bet with myself that he is now not watching the CCTV. I take a glance at the camera, then smile and wave at it, before proceeding to the door. As silent as I can, I exit the apartment. As I reach the elevator, once again I glance at the door, silently hope that Seven doesn't notice my absence.

I reach the first floor just shortly, and I walk to the apartment's convenience store directly. A chime and friendly shopkeeper greet me as I open the store's door and I smile back at him. This convenience store is big enough to sell many kinds of essential I need this far. I fiercely hope that they sell essentials for Seven too, namely Ph.D Pepper and HBC. I spot the canned drink easily, and take several of them.

I scurry the store's snack section, only to find that they're not selling HBC. Not that I ever found it here before. Reaching the friendly shopkeeper, I ask him whether they have the said holy snack, only to find out that they never sell one before.

Deflated, I proceed to the cashier. I am still deliberating whether I have to go outside the apartment or not as I walk out of the convenience store. I mean, there must be a store selling HBC, right?

Just then, my phone rings. Jolted, I reach to my phone and as I thought, it's him.

I exhale slowly before pick up the phone, "Hel—"

"Where are you? Where did you go on your own? You were so quiet I thought you were asleep. I had to check the security feed on the hallway to see that you left. That was seven minutes ago! I didn't realize that you've left for seven minutes… what if something happened in that time?" he says in a hurry, cutting off my greeting. I was expecting him to yell at me, but his tone is a lot more friendlier than that. Still, his tone is commanding enough to make me run hastily to the elevator.

"You didn't answer me… and you seemed really focused," I press the button of the elevator, waiting for it to come down rather desperately.

"If you felt that frustrated staying inside, you should have just taken off my headphones and made me listen to you…" he answers back, not missing a moment. I flinch a bit as I look at the elevator's floor indicator closely. Still a bit far from first floor.

Yeah, take the headphones off of you and have you yell at me? I am not that clueless.

"…are you mad that I was ignoring you?"

"No, I'm not mad at you," his tone sounds so desperate just now I cannot help but taking my immediate instinct to calm him down.

Though… honestly, I wish he didn't ignore me.

"You do realize how dangerous the situation is right now, right?" his tone raises a bit.

"…yes," I answer shortly. Expecting him to yell after this.

"Then how could you leave on your own even when you know a hacker is after you? Some strange person could have been waiting outside to kidnap you!" though he is not yelling, apparently his voice sounds so desperate. I cannot help but feel guilty since I didn't take the possibility of further kidnapping into my account. "Where are you now?" he asks in hurried tone.

"I am waiting for the elevator downstairs. It's taking some time to come down," I state the matter of fact.

He sighs heavily, "I should have put a GPS tracking device on your clothes,"

"Huh?" I gape slightly and just then the elevator chimes as it arrives on the first floor.

Apparently, he doesn't catch my confusion, "Oh… I brought a couple here. Give me your jacket when you get back so that I can attach it,"

Wait, he wants to put GPS on me? What am I? A pet?

On second thought, if I have GPS attached on me, I won't have to go through the trouble of being ignored when I want to tell him that I am about to go somewhere.

"Why in the world did you leave?"

I pause for a second as I enter the elevator, "I was going to get HBC for you… but I couldn't find them at the store,"

Now it's his turn to pause, "…you don't need to care about me. I told you to leave me alone just to work… why didn't you listen to me?"

I only hum for a response, hitting the floor number's button.

"Hurry back inside… if you are hungry, there's a sandwich inside the fridge so go eat that,"

My ear perks up at this. I am quite certain I didn't make any sandwich.

"I made it so I can't vouch for the taste, but it will fill you up," he explains.

I blink confusedly. He… made me sandwich? Excited, I smile wide, "You made it for me?"

"No, I made it when I was making my own. I didn't have time to care about the taste so it looks sloppy," he answers in a hurry.

I grin happily. He didn't seem to show any sign of willingness to make his own food, and he tries to ensure me that he is now making sandwiches? Moreover, while I'm not inside the house? I can imagine he thought I was hungry and left, and so he made me food. Then proceeded to scold me.

Why didn't he call me right away when he could not find me inside the house?

I swallow my urge to laugh. I really cannot hate this man, no matter how weird he twists his concern about me.

"There's tuna, ham, and egg, so pick what you want. We have orange, grape, and grapefruit juice. That was all I could do in seven minutes,"

I cannot resist the giddiness as I listen to his words. He even prepared several types of sandwiches? And several juices? My smile gets wider and I giggle on the phone.

"I really… really just wanted to eat all three types of sandwiches… so don't take it the wrong way," he continues, and I catch a tiny streak of hesitation in his voice. Yeah… you want to eat three types of sandwiches. Alright. I smile even wider.

"Oh… I just heard the elevator. You're on it, right?" his tone turns desperate again. "I'll be waiting in front of the door. I can't focus until I see you. Hurry!" and with that he hangs up.

My giddiness bubbles up a little bit more. I cannot wipe the smile off of my face when I see him standing right in front of elevator door. His eyes immediately meet mine, full of concern. Upon seeing me, he let out a relieved breath. I step out of the elevator and shove him a bag full of Ph.D Pepper, "Here. At least I found this,"

His eyes are widening as he sees what's inside the bag.

"Your ration is about to go empty, isn't it?" I try to keep my giddiness on check as I walk to the apartment door. As I hit the number pad, the door opens up and I step inside, only then I feel a glare on the back of my head. I flinch a bit. I can hear his step behind me, so I turn around and hold the door for him. He responses with holding the door knob, when the door to the apartment in front of us opens. A man in suit comes out and immediately see us.

His eyes find mine and he smiles warmly, "Ah, MC, good afternoon,"

I smile politely to him, "Good afternoon, Mr. J, are you going somewhere?"

"Yeah… the boss has just called me for overtime, so I must go back, though I have just arrived several minutes ago," he chuckles, then eyeing the redhead by my side, "You didn't tell me that your brother is coming,"

I blink at his words, "Brother…?" then exchange gazes with Seven.

"Oh… I'm sorry! Your boyfriend then?! But you told me you were single the other day!" he laughs heartily, then shakes his head in deep frown, "That's too bad,"

I blush at the comment.

"Oh… uh, I just realized we left the stove on! See you later, Mister!" Seven chirps in his 707's cheery and friendly tone, hurriedly pushes me inside, and waves at my neighbor before closes the door. He sighs as he leans on the door frame.

I look at the redhead, constructing many scenarios where he asks me who Mr.J is and so on and so on. Well, he is friendly, and still young, and still single, and seems interested on me, if my brief conversations with him gives enough hint.

But he shrugs it off and signals me to walk to the kitchen, "I put the sandwiches on the table. Warm it up with the microwave,"

I don't know why I feel like frowning when he seems unbothered, but I nod gratefully, "Thanks, Seven, I appreciate the concern,"

"I'll pay for this," he lifts the bag.

"No! It's alright. Please… just think of it as my thanks,"

"I don't need you to thank—"

"Please, Seven!"

He stares at me with conflicted expression, then he sighs a little. "You really don't have to do this anyway," I swear the cheerfulness he showed earlier is still lacing on his voice, albeit just a little. Emotions rush to me, and I can help but smiling at him as he mouths a thank you. We exchange surprisingly convenient gaze for several seconds before he tears it away, "Now give me your jacket,"

"It's a sweater,"

"Fine, whatever it is," another flat tone is thrown at me.

I pout a little, then grab the lower part of my sweater and start lifting it up.

"Wait!! What are you doing?!" he gasps in surprise.

I stop midway, glancing at the man in front of me. His face and ears are as red as his hair. "Well, you said you want my sweater—"

"I don't—Gahhh!" Seven closes his face with one hand, and I swear even his hand becomes redder by seconds.

And with that, I realize what is happening. I chuckle a bit, "I am wearing a shirt underneath, Seven,"

"Still…!! Go to the bathroom!!"

"But—"

"NO BUTS!" half-screaming, he grabs my shoulder and turns me around, pushes me along the hallway until we reach the bathroom, "Do it inside. I'll warm up the sandwiches for you," with that, he opens the bathroom door and shoves me inside. Then hurriedly closes the door behind me.

"…Okay?" I say to the door.

I take off the sweater in front of the mirror and watch myself for a second. There I stand in my plain red sleeveless T-shirt. After deciding that it is presentable enough, I open the bathroom door and find him stands in front of the microwave. His palm still covers his face and I can practically see that his ears are burning up. I can help but remember Zen's numero uno warning about 'all men are wolves' and giggles.

If Seven was a wolf, well, he must be the cutest one on earth.

…though, I am glad that he doesn't seem to be someone who will take advantage on me. Despite the weirdness, I feel a sense of safety just by seeing his reaction.

"Seven…?" I call carefully.

He abruptly uncovers his face and turns to my direction.

Only to hastily turns around again.

I tilt my head a bit. What now?

"Honestly, do I even have to spell this out for you?" he screeches, "Are you teasing me now?"

I look down at my attire and still find it presentable. Curious, I walk closer to the kitchen table, where he is standing on the other edge, "What? What do you mean?"

"Listen. I am a guy, you know? You shouldn't be so… defenseless," his voice comes out faltered, then he turns around, though he restrains himself from looking at me again, "I'll put on the GPS then, please give me your ja—sweater,"

I give him my sweater, but not without a word, "You know, Seven, I pretty confident with self-defense. So, you cannot think that I am defenseless,"

He catches my gaze by the end of my sentence and I find a flash of unreadable emotion in his golden orbs. Something in his eyes sparkles dangerously. It sends tingling sensation to my spine and I cannot help but shiver. The redhead says nothing more and takes my sweater to the bedroom.

… … what's that? I grab my arms to find the hair follicles stand out. I joined self-defense club since middle school so I am pretty confident with defending myself. But a single gaze from him sends me shivering? This type of sensation only comes when I am facing a stronger opponent.

A shiver comes to me again upon realizing that Seven must be a lot more proficient with self-defense, being a secret agent and all.

Wait…

Am I… in danger right now?

No. I shake my head quickly. Seven comes here to protect me. He is looking out for me. I shouldn't even think about this.

And just like the God wants me to stop thinking about something unnecessary, the microwave chimes. I open it and take out the sandwiches he prepared for me.

I gape upon seeing the sandwiches. He said they were sloppily made? It looks undoubtedly neat! Like those you got from convenience store. Despite the fact that he eats HBC day and night, he must be familiar enough in making sandwiches. Carefully but excitedly, I put the sandwiches on the plate.

Each of them is the whole size of bread. All of them. Three full-sized sandwiches.

I turn around to enter the bedroom, to find him fiddling with my sweater, "Seven, the sandwiches are done. Which one do you want to eat?"

"You can eat it all," he answers shortly, without even spares me a glance.

"Uh… but I thought you were making them for yourself?" I ask hesitantly, unintentionally catch the glimpse of surprise in his feature. I smile, "Let's taste it all together! You made three because you wanted all three flavors, right? So, you have you take a bite on each of them,"

"Don't need that. I have work to do," he shakes his head while folding my sweater. Then he proceeds to type something on his laptop. Obviously, he is testing the GPS.

"But I won't be able to finish them off all by myself! Let's split them and taste them all…" my voice trails off since he seems all focused to his work again. I sigh. Then why didn't you say that you made these for me instead then? I mumble to myself. I walk to the cutlery and take a knife, then neatly split each of the sandwiches into two. After putting them on different plate, I take the orange juice from the refrigerator after contemplating about which juice to give him. I put them all on the tray and walk into the bedroom.

He notices my presence and turn around, immediately sits straight up, "Wait! Don't come closer!"

I slump in irritation, "Honestly, don't use that on me, Seven. We all know that you are not allergic to me,"

He hurriedly scoots aside a bit as I set down the tray. A deep frown adorns his face.

He sighs, "I don't need that. I made it for you,"

My eyes light up, "So you finally admit that you made it for me?" I grin happily.

"No! I made it because I was hungry!" he answers quickly. I grin wider at his words, and his frown goes darker, "Honestly, stop bothering me,"

My grin falls, "I'll stop if you eat your part of sandwiches,"

"I am not hungry,"

"You have just said that you made sandwiches because you were hungry!"

"Now, I am not hungry,"

"Seveeeennn~" I groan in frustration

"Stop whining!" he raises his tone.

I look at him expectantly.

"And don't give me that look,"

"What look?" I say flatly.

"That look! Ugh… Fine, I'll eat the sandwich. Happy now? Then stop bothering me," he rubs his temple, "Here, wear it back, now," he gives me my sweater then takes one of the sandwich. After the first bite, he turns to his computer again, typing with one hand. I swallow the urge to ask him to pause the work until he finishes the sandwich. But this is good enough, I should not push my luck further, I say silently. Smiling, I stand up and leave him to eat my portion of sandwiches.


	6. Chapter 6 Day 8 1730

_Author's Note:_ _Thanks for supporting my story! I'll do my best to finish this!_

 _Oh... and anyway, s_ _trong people usually have overcome hardship(s) in life. This MC is also like that._

 **Chapter 6. Day 8. 17.30**

Sitting on the living room, I read back Seven's heartfelt confession on the chatroom. As I thought, he feels bad about leaving me here with such a dangerous weapon for a week. It pricks my heart when he continues feeling so down. But what feels heavy the most is that he continues trying to shoulder it all by himself.

All the blame.

I bit my lower lips and sigh… where is V at a time like this?

As I feel my heart getting heavier, I walk back to the bedroom and climb up the bed. Again, I stare at his back, contemplating how I can lift his spirit up. Absentmindedly, I grab my phone and read the last part of the chatroom, 'Call me if you need anything,' he wrote there.

I look at his figure carefully. Maybe I should call him?

No. Just let him be for a while.

Just then, I get the notification of a new chatroom. Yoosung is online. I can practically imagine what he is about to say, since Yoosung is the one who has been with Seven for years. It must be a lot more painful for him to read Seven's messages. I stare at the screen for another while, then glance back at Seven, still contemplating what I can do for him.

And I was right, the first thing Yoosung asks me soon after I enter the chatroom is about Seven. Zen joins shortly afterward, showing us a picture of the city from the hillside. They're both feel so bad for being enraged over the fact that I was left here with bomb.

Seven didn't do it because he wanted to harm me. And now, he is sincerely feeling sorry and trying to help me.

Even though living with a bomb feels unreal, having my thoughts marred with fear and anger will not change the fact that I was here, and I am still here. I was alone, but now, Seven is here with me. Rather than getting angry, I want to solve the problem.

Because… the most important thing is not what we feel, but what we do after we get that feeling.

At least, that's what I learned.

Though… even at the end of the chat with Yoosung and Zen, I am still unable to decide what I can do for Seven.

Well, at least, Yoosung seems to get closer with his mother. I smile a bit.

Then my smile falters when I look back at the redhead across me. I watch his figure and listen carefully. He is mumbling something but I cannot point it out clearly. I suppose it must be about coding.

"Seven…?" I call out.

"Oh… this is a song I like," he says to no one in particular and starts humming. I get the message that he doesn't want me to bother him.

I smile weakly. What can I do to cheer you up? I glance around the room and find something that wasn't there before. Putting my phone in the pocket of my shorts, I get up to my feet.

There, on Rika's desk, just in front of her PC, sits an opened book. I walk closer to the desk. My eyes literally sparkle when I see a picture of treasure chest on it, with a man dressed like a chibi king on the opposite page. But the one that piques my curiosity is the floppy disk, sitting in peace on the opened book between two pages.

"Seven~ come here! I found a treasure!" I reach the floppy disk.

And just when I touch it, the book is snatched away forcefully, along with the floppy disk. I gasp in surprise as I realize a figure is towering behind me.

"What are you doing right now?!" he snarls.

I look up over my head and find him glares angrily to me. I move away and look at him, his expression is a mix of irritation and bewilderment.

"God, I don't know if you're just lighthearted or dumb," he says in a low tone. Something about his tone scares me right away. "Please listen carefully to what I have to say," he catches my gaze and lock it, "Do you know the saying curiosity kills the cat?"

I don't even have to nod to tell him that I know.

"You don't have to be polite of me. You can ignore me, avoid me, even get mad at me," his tone raises gradually, "But don't ever get curious about what I do or the things I've brought! People who get curious without knowing anything, just thinking it'll be alright… really make me tired. They don't know how dangerous I am and how many problems I have… they just look at me and think I won't be much, and approach me. They try to open up around me without much thought. Just like you,"

But earlier you got upset when I left the apartment because you thought I left you… I open my mouth to say it, but I swallow it back. His glare is piercing me deeper by seconds.

"They don't even have the ability to handle the things inside," he continues.

I inhale and steel myself, "Let's just be friends… What's so complicated?" I defend. How am I supposed to handle you if I you keep pushing me away?

"I've lived a complicated life ever since I was born. A life you will never understand!" his voice starts rising.

The last sentence pricks my heart. I look back at him a bit defiantly. As if you ever try to understand MY life!

He looks back at me fiercely, "So don't get curious of me, because no matter how much you try to get to know me, it's useless,"

"It's not useless!" I counter back.

He pierces my eyes with the same intensity and I am not imagining things if I say that a bit of sadness flickers inside his golden orbs. "The ending," he starts again, "has set for us," his tone deep and firm, "So, please, until the situation is stabilized, don't give me any attention, and don't forgive me for putting you in danger,"

"You're not even giving me a chance to become close to you," I state it bitterly, "Why…?"

"That chance," his voice trembles a bit, "Don't waste something like that on a guy like me,"

I bit my lower lip to keep my composure. His last sentence pierces something fragile inside of me. A scene from my memory resurfaces without my control. A scene of me crying over another rejection from my once most precious person. Under his unfriendly gaze, I struggle to keep standing straight without visible pain though maybe my eyes show more than I want to.

"You'll just end up getting hurt like now," he continues.

There. He actually sees that I am hurting right now. My composure is getting closer to crumbling. My gaze shifts away from his eyes when I feel the familiar sensation of tears trying to find their way out to the world.

"I take it that you understand what I mean," he pauses for a bit before he continues, "If you are really care for me and want to help, don't pay me any attention and just stay far away from me. That is helping me, seriously,"

"Then tell me why," I turn to meet his eyes again, trying my best not to raise my own voice tone, "Why did you even bother to call me when I am not here with you? Why did you even care about me getting kidnapped out there if you want me to stay away from you? You don't want me around, but you want me around. What in the world do you actually want me to do?!" His eyes are widened a bit and I don't care anymore when my tone raises, "You said I won't be able to understand you, but do you even try to understand me, Seven? Do you even know what kind of state my mind was when I finally met you?!"

He looks at me sharply, "I don't care about understanding you. Or what's inside your mind. Or what your feeling is. You want me to leave soon, right? Then you should stop bothering me with my work!"

I shake my head quickly, "I never said that! Instead, I care about y—"

"Then—" he cuts my words, "—just forget everything I ever told you before I came here,"

My eyes turn wider at this, something inside me is shattered painfully.

"It's all 707 who said that. Not me," he continues firmly, "It's all lies,"

I fight the urge to clutch my chest, despite the fact breathing feels hard and painful for me by seconds. I try my best to stand firm in front of him, determined not to let him see any ounce of weakness that flood into me.

But… to my disappointment, I can feel something wet on my cheek.

Not wanting to let him see another tear spilling out, I leave the bedroom, half-running. From the hallway, I open the door to the bathroom and quickly close it behind me. I cannot stop the surge of emotion from crashing into me. Fragments of memory bubbles up, their existence is like acid, eating me inside out. Overwhelmed by my own emotion, I let myself slide on the bathroom floor.

A face from my past appears at the back of my mind. A scene where everything crumbled down adorns my thought. I cannot even decide which one hurts me more, Seven, or my past. But either way, my protective wall falls, and the fragile me finally loses its ultimate defense.

I cry.


	7. Chapter 7 Day 8 1800

**Chapter 7. Day 8. 18.00**

After fixing my face so it doesn't look too sullen with visible swelling due to excessive crying, I open the bathroom door and come out. The apartment is awkwardly silence. Not even a sound is heard. I take a moment to listen to any typing sound, but I hear nothing.

Did he leave?

Well, maybe it's better if he leaves, a part of me keeps saying that. I am so hurt by everything he said to me. I don't want to keep people who keeps hurting me by my side.

But the more rational part of me disagrees. It tells me to look back to what I've learned so far, that emotion is not necessarily meant to sway our way of thinking.

I have gone through worse.

And I know, despite everything he said, I cannot forget the way he looked at Saeran yesterday. He's hurting too. And he's betrayed. He has no one to stand by his side right now. Instinctively, I can feel him gets farther from the rest of RFA, meaning that he literally doesn't have anyone by his side right now.

Somehow, there is a part of me which thinks that it is the reason why Seven keeps me here with him. Not only because Saeran is after me. He keeps me around him because he needs someone near him…

He might be… actually afraid to be left behind by everyone. Even if even if he doesn't like me, I can still stay by his side through this.

Ah… why do I think about it like that? Why do I have to stay by his side anyway? A part of me tries to tell me that I don't have to endure this kind of ridiculous treatment he gives me.

But I know… I know how it feels when you're hurting and have nobody with you.

I know that when we're hurt, we need anchor. We need someone to keep us sane. To keep us alive.

I know how it feels to be desperately lonely.

And I promised myself that I won't let it happen to my precious people.

And Seven… is a part of those people, whether I admit it or not.

I exhale slowly, trying my best to calm myself down. I let myself lean on the bathroom's door for several more minutes, waiting for the cloud inside my head to clear up. I glance at the CCTV on the hallway, unintentionally remembering that Seven turned to look at the CCTV every 2.35 seconds.

Ridiculous, I know. Did he lie about it too?

I force a smile on my face. It is no use trying to think about that, I tell myself. What has happened, happened. Everything that is in my mind and heart right now is a product of what I have been through. And it is not like I cannot do anything about that. I can do what I want with my thought and my feeling right now. It doesn't matter whether I will succeed to alter what I think and feel, but at least, I still have freedom with what I want to do with them right now.

A freedom that Seven is devoid of.

Hesitantly, I walk to the bedroom, bracing myself to have him disappear without word on me.

But he is there.

He is facing the wall like usual, his head hangs low, supported with his right hand.

He doesn't have the luxury of accepting, altering, or expressing whatever he thinks or feels right now. Burdened with the necessity of keeping me safe, he is ridden by betrayal of someone he once trusted. And his most important person, his other half, is exactly the one he has been fighting against since I appeared in the chatroom. I don't know what happened between him and his brother, but whatever it is, their meeting was not supposed to happen that way.

Something happened in his family. Something that separated the twin. With a huge misunderstanding in the process.

Something also happened in his path, something that forced him to be an agent. And he is chased by his agency right now. Because he is trying to keep me safe.

…that's right. It's not just me who is in danger right now. Seven himself is actually in danger too. I exhale my breath slowly as I try to slow down my trail of thought. I really… really don't understand him. He is one of the most complicated people I have ever met.

Though, it doesn't change the fact that he is putting his life on the line to protect me. That fact maybe the only thing I need to make my decision of what to do with him.

I lean on the hallway just beside the door to the bedroom and call him.

I hear his phone is ringing, and I unconsciously brace myself for getting rejected again.

But he picks up.

"Hello…" he weakly answer.

"Sev—"

"Don't…" he cuts me off, "Don't say anything. I have something to tell you," his voice is coarse and depressing, I cannot help but think that he's been crying, "I think… I overreacted earlier. All I want is to spend my day peacefully without any troubles,"

I listen intently as my grip on the phone gets tighter.

"That's so hard, I feel like I've become so sensitive. And I'm taking all my anxiety out on you," he continues, his tone gets coarser, "I'm sorry,"

My ears perk up when he apologizes. I turn to the CCTV on the hall.

"it's my feelings. I'm the one who's feeling it but I can't control it, and it's so hard," his tone is now laced with regret, "I'm sorry… if I hurt your feelings in any way,"

I bit my lower lips, preventing it from trembling.

"Do you know those stickleback fishes that only hurt each other by getting closer? I'm just like that,"

I open my mouth to say something, but swallow it again.

"You shouldn't try to get closer to me," he says solemnly. I have heard this sentence several times, but this time, I can hear the apparent plea inside it. "Because… I was born like a stickleback. I'm someone who hurts people who come closer to me,"

I close my eyes when the words resound in my head, trying my best not to run into the room and hold him tight.

He doesn't deserve this.

"So please, keep your distance—"

"Seven—"

"No, don't interrupt me and listen,"

I swallow back my words and exhale slowly.

"Please… deal with your useless feelings towards me. I'm not a good man. Good people like you shouldn't be with me,"

Suddenly, an understanding comes to me.

…is that why you keep rejecting me? Because you feel like you shouldn't be with me?

"I'm sorry I have to say this. You deserve someone better,"

Still so suddenly, I cannot help but thinking that everything he said to me before we met is indeed his true feeling to me. He wasn't lying. But an agent like him doesn't have privilege to have personal relationship. It doesn't matter who he feels strongly about, because it is just impossible for him. It is not that he cannot love people, but he is not allowed to love people.

Because he lives in a shadow.

Because he cannot have personal connection.

Because having precious people will be his weakness, since they can be hurt, targeted, endangered.

All those words he said and wrote come crashing down to me. All he said to me was true. All he confessed to me was true.

He pushes me away… to protect me.

A single tear comes down my cheek as I stare at the CCTV, from which, for some reason, I can feel his eyes on me.

"…Don't be sad, even that is a waste," sadness is thick in his voice, "It's enough for me that you are alive and well…" he pauses for a moment, "Then… I need to hang up,"

He didn't lie to me. The excited voice I came to like was his. The quirky jokes he told me was not just a scenario. The… the space station… I mean, his confession of wanting to take me to the space station was not a lie.

It's all true. It's his real feeling. Seven Zero Seven is also a real part of him. Though… that part has been cast away the moment he met Saeran.

Still staring at the CCTV, I wipe my eyes with my free hand.

I will not leave him alone. That, is my conviction.


	8. Chapter 8: Day 8 1830

**Chapter 8. Day 8. 18.30**

After steeling myself a little bit more, I enter the bedroom, purposefully rustling the sheet so he knows that I am there. I take a little mirror on the bedside and look at my eyes, feeling relieved that the swelling has been mostly gone. Letting myself down to the mattress, I turn to the redhead at the corner. He has started typing with his headphone off.

"Seven…?" I ask carefully. And as I predicted, he doesn't answer, "What do you think we'll see once we're out of Oort Cloud?" I ask randomly.

No response.

I contemplate a bit, "Can we find our solar system back?"

Still no response. He purposefully tries to ignore me.

Like I will let you do that for long. I sigh and carefully get down the bed with phone in my hand. Carefully, I take several steps closer to his form, stopping when there are two more medium-sized strides left between us. If he can sense my movement, like he said earlier, he perfectly conceals it. I sit behind him, my back facing him.

For one who keeps pushing me away earlier, he makes no effort to shoo me away for sitting this near now.

"Don't you think you need to take a break? You've been working for hours," I say to no one in particular since the redhead still typing away.

Silence. Only the typing sound comes between us.

I let out a breath. Then proceed to call him.

His phone vibrates. I wait anxiously when the typing sound stops.

"Hello?" he picks up, and because he is so near, his voice bounces back and forth in my head. Oh, damn his voice and its effect on me.

"Luciel?" I dare myself to call him his name.

He sighs, "Why would you call me when you are right behind me? Now I hear your voice twice and my heart… Uh… Never mind,"

I blink, his heart? What?

"I'm gonna work now," his voice comes out between plea and whine.

I switch on my positive-self mode, "Oh, come on~ Can I poke your cheeks?" though my tone is cheerful, the real me braces myself for his usual rejection. I will stay true to my conviction.

"Then I'll poke you too," the very, very slight amusement in his voice is unmistakable. My eyes turn wider. I am not imagining things, right?

"Stop messing around and hang up, I need to take care of this as fast as I can for the both of us so I need to focus," the previous angry tone has disappeared. I feel myself relaxed a bit.

"Why don't you get a snack and take a short break?" I propose.

"No, I don't want to eat. I don't want to waste my time," he answers hastily, "Can't you eat on your own?"

"Don't wannaaaa~," I answer as fast I can.

"Stop whining behind me," he whines back, "God… what am I supposed to do…?"

I pout, but not saying anything. Then—

"RAAWWWRR!" he roars to the phone and I jolt up in surprise. When I turn around, he gives me a completely annoyed look and… what's that? He curls one of his hand? My jaw almost drops to the floor.

"I'm going to bite you if you keep interrupting me!" his tone is supposed to be menacing, but… his curling hand is…

So cute.

"Oh my god!" I squeal involuntarily.

He shakes his head impatiently, "Stop making cute noises! Argh… I can't focus as it is…"

"C-Cute?" what's this? He thinks I'm cute?

"Come here. I should really bite you!" something in his eyes tells me that he is dead serious. Locking my eyes with his, he makes a movement to reach me.

But I abruptly tear my eyes off of him and stand on my feet, swiftly run to the bedroom door. No, no, no, what's this? My heart pounds so unbelievably fast. He's too cute. And he's… he's… he's chasing meeeee!

"What? You're running away now? Wait!" his voice echoes in the small apartment as I run pass the kitchen and to the hall.

Just before I reach the living room, his figure looms over me and with a swift motion he captures me on the shoulder, stops my movement and entrap me on the wall. My breath hitches when I proceed what is currently happening. I am trapped between his arms, right under his intense gaze. And I can only stare to his dangling cross as I try to calm myself down. I dare not looking up to meet his eyes.

I can hear and feel his breathing slow and steady on the top of my head, even though he has just run to catch me.

Something in my chest pounds painfully.

This is bad. My heart is about to burst.

He's so close. Too close.

Wait.

This shouldn't happen. I mean, I would have thrown down any guy who dare to do this to me. I pride myself as someone who can defend myself. But, right now, my whole body is paralyzed. All I can do is listening to his breath, and watching the rise and fall of his cross.

"MC," he says in low tone. This is the very first time he ever calls my name ever since we met, and it sends shiver along my spine.

Why do I feel things like this? I scold myself. I should defend myself, not letting myself being handled like a defenseless girl. With that I grab both his arms and start to lift it, but—

He twists my movement around and grab both my wrists instead, pinning them against the wall as I squeak in surprise. Defiantly, I look up to him but he swiftly moves his head to left side of my head. Our cheeks are almost touching. I gasp in surprise. My heart is hammering like crazy.

"You asked for this," he whispers lowly. With that, his left hand leaves my wrist and encircles my neck from behind, pushes aside my hair and tilt my head a bit. His right hand holds my other wrist firmly.

Wait… this is—

I never finish my thought because he moves down to the crook of my neck...

And bite.

I gasp a bit loudly as uncontrollable shiver runs through my body. My breath is taken away when his teeth slowly but steadily clamp down my skin. His movement is surprisingly gentle, as if I will shatter if he bites too fast. I close my eyes as a surge of emotion washes over me. What is this? I use my free hand to grip on his arm for support, since it feels like my legs are turning weaker by seconds. His other hand is still pinning my wrist on the wall, tightening the grasp as he continues his ministration.

I feel so overwhelmed.

I stifle a squeal when he sucks my skin. When he licks the spot, I sigh and grip his arm tighter.

Then, he abruptly pulls away and turns around, so I fail to catch the view of his face. "There," he says, his voice is a bit labored, "Now stop interrupting my work," and with that, he walks back though the hall and enters to bedroom, not even turning around.

The critical damage taken by me is unmistakable. I hurry to the bathroom and reach the mirror in front of the sink. Pushing my hair aside, I stare incredulously at my reflection. Right at the crook of my neck, there… the skin blazes red and wet. Slowly, I trace the redness and shudder a bit.

A mixed feeling bubbles in me. Why did he do this?

To show me that he is dangerous? That I should not come closer to him?

Or… is there something more to this?

I look back to my face on the mirror, finding it harbors the deepest shade of red I ever exude. I can practically see the steam coming out endlessly from my head. I exit the bathroom and strides to the living room. Sitting on the sofa and hug my knees tightly.

If my heart was a balloon, it must have exploded.

Zen will scold me for this.

What I don't know is, at the same time, Seven actually suffers from the much higher level of critical damage, despite being the one who bite me.


	9. Chapter 9: Day 8 2345

**Chapter 9. Day 8. 23.45**

He slams down his phone in frustration, surprising me. I turn to his direction, finding him ease down himself to the floor, his free hand rubs over his forehead. Even from my location just above the bed, I can see how he struggle to keep himself under control. I bit back my urge to call out for him. The visible rise and fall of his upper body gives away the difficulties he is currently experiencing.

Even without seeing his face, I can see how much he's hurt by what V said in chatroom just now.

The deafening silence falls between us.

Suddenly, something moves between the devices he put on the floor. I catch the white color stumbles upon him. The shape resembles… cat? I watch in total awe as the cat robot moves beside him, its head tilts several times.

"God Seven, God Seven! I sense that you are depressed, meow," if the situation is a bit brighter than this, I would have squealed at the cuteness. But right now, I am just watching in total silence.

"I am automatically switched on when I sense that you are depressed, meow. The source of God Seven's depression is bad service, meow. I analyzed, meow,"

With that, the redhead turns his head to the direction of the robotic cat, "Shut up,"

"Cheer up, meow! Me, Meowy, does not lose service, meow!" the robotic cat, 'Meowy', it said, tilts its head again.

The creator gets up from the floor, "Be quiet…" he lifts the robot, "How did I turn this off. Damn…" he puts down the robot and scratches his head. Frustration is clear on his expression.

If he was in much clearer state of mind, I know he would be able to turn the robot off. The fact that he can't confirms he cannot even think straight. I watch him intently, while holding back whatever it is on my tongue's tip.

"Need explaining, meow!"

"I said, shut up!" he yells. I bit my lower lip as his expression got more and more frustrated by seconds.

"Meowy wants to hear master, meow~"

"That robot… you made it then…" I stop myself when my words trail off. I hastily cover my mouth.

"Don't worry about it," he responds hastily, "Hey, robot cat, go away. I don't want to talk to you so just go to a corner,"

The robot tilts its head several times, "I can't leave once I sense depression, meow! Cheer up, moew!"

The redhead exhales loudly, and I just know that I have to interfere. I take several steps to the robot's direction and scrunch down, "Meowy, let's stay quiet for now~"

The robot turns to me quickly, and I blink in surprise when it approaches me. Soon it tilts its head once, "That's the voice I have to absolutely obey, meow…"

My heart skips a beat. This robot recognizes my voice? But… it never encountered me before. I turn to the redhead and finding him stare at nothing in particular. His expression is the darkest one I have ever seen from him. Then everything is connected. Seven must have recorded my voice during one of our calls, despite saying he wouldn't do that, and put it into this robot. It's the only explanation on how the robot recognize my voice, right? And to absolutely obey my command, nonetheless…

And as if confirming my thought, Meowy chirps, "That is how I'm programmed, meow. So now the system will shut down, meow…!" the robot gives hissing sound and shut down.

Leaving us in even more deafening silence.

After a while, he lets out a breath, "… Finally, it's quiet,"

I study his figure and gather my courage, "Things didn't seem to go well with V… Are you okay?"

He sharply turns to me, "MC, I know it's funny to say all of this after I told you to stop paying attention to me, but whatever happens, don't trust what V says. I'm not joking,"

I turn my gaze to the robot on my feet, not knowing what to say.

"God… I think you shouldn't be more involved with RFA,"

My ears perk up.

"He told me not to open the drawer because there's something in there. An alarm will ring if someone like you opens the drawers or one of the cabinets. But I can control all the alarms, so if I want to, I can see everything. I'm sure he logged in because he heard that I'm here and got nervous about something…" he trails off. Something about his tone pricks my heart. It sounds so sad, desperate, and… full of disbelief.

"Why don't you open the drawers then?" I ask carefully.

"I will… but not right now. I'm sure that there's something that the RFA member should never see…" he honestly speaks, "Now that my trust in V is shattered, I can barely keep sane at the moment,"

I stare at his slightly slumped form, "Seven… is there really nothing I can do to help?"

"God… it's nothing. I made you worry again," he looks away, "I don't know what I'm blabbering right now… I feel like I should shut down instead of the cat," he says solemnly. "Anyways, don't worry about the drawer, I'll take care of it,"

I turn to look at the drawer jus under Rika's workdesk, "I cannot help but think that there is something related to Saeran inside…" I gasp at the end of my own words. Why did I say that?

"You're free to think what you want, but don't care about me," he pauses a bit, "And don't even mention that name,"

I look at him in full understanding. It must be painful to even remember about Saeran right now, "I'm sorry,"

"From now on, I think you should forget everything related to RFA. Forget about the party," he continues in low tone.

I shake my head in disapproval, "That's—"

"You'll only be in danger by staying in a place like this. As soon as the hacker issue is solved, please leave,"

Against my will, an emotion equal to anger rises up within me, "Why are you deciding my future?"

"I'm telling you this because I know much more than you do," his tone is similarly low. Any trace of 707 seemingly fades completely from his form, "You are free to do whatever you want, but my thoughts will not change,"

"I cannot accept that," I blurt out hastily.

"Even if you try to get involved with me, I will refuse everything. This is nothing for a person like you to be involved in," he searches for my eyes, "You'll only end up getting hurt,"

"Maybe I will, but it doesn't mean I will back down easily," I counter him determinedly. I will not be defeated by something like this. By someone like you. My words hang between us between the complete silence that follows.

"Let's just stop talking about this," he closes his eyes and exhales, "From now on, if I have to tell you anything concerning your safety, I'll do it through the messenger. So, just know it as that," without looking at me again, he turns around, "I'm going to work. Don't bother me,"

That tone again, the tone that irritates me so much. I inhale my breath and stand up, "You're being too one sided! Then what do I do about my feelings for you?"

"I TOLD YOU NOT TO BOTHER ME!" he rises to his feet while yelling at me so harshly, makes me jolt in surprise. "I don't care about your feelings, alright?! Think about the fact that you're living with a bomb right now!"

I would have cried if he used this tone on me several hours ago. But now that I have made my conviction, I will not back down. I stand in front of him with total defense, "I will not back down even if you say that,"

He looks at me in disbelief, "You're already in danger, because of me and the RFA! There's no guarantee that something more dangerous won't happen in the future!" he continues yelling at me, "And your chances of being in danger will multiply by being with a guy like me. Do you understand?! It's not the time to go on about emotions. Just worry about staying alive!"

Staying alive. My mind instantly remembers how he trade his safety in the agency to my own safety. Suddenly everything turns solemn in my eyes.

"How can you stay so calm?! I can't understand you!" he snarls desperately, "If you get in danger again… then I'll…" he surprisingly trails off as he meets my eyes. His golden orbs flicker with emotion I do not dare to define. He keeps his gaze on me as if he is running out of things to say and trying to convey everything he wants to say with his gaze.

"Seven," I start carefully, "I know that you're worried about me, so don't avoid me, please…?" it comes out more like a plea than a request.

He laughs bitterly, "You're free to think whatever you want, but seriously… stop it," he gives me another annoyed look. Whatever I could see from his golden orbs is now gone, "After you're safe and the hacker things gets solved, we'll never see each other again,"

My eyes turn wider at his words. My almost choke on my breath.

"So, stop wasting your emotion on me. I don't deserve it. It's all a waste,"

"It's not a waste…" it's my turn to trail off. There are so many things I want to say but I just cannot decide which one I must say first. I bit my lower lip and stare at him confusedly. He stares back, only to groan irritatedly, "Damn… don't look at me like that! God!"

But I cannot tear my eyes off of him.

He stares at me for several more seconds and then bat his gaze away, "This won't do," he scratches his hair, "I'm going to the hallway. I'm going to come in when you're sleeping, so meanwhile, sort out your emotions," with that, he walks past me and goes out of the bedroom, with my eyes trailing on him.

I let out a long sigh when he is out of my sight. He is right, I need to sort out my emotions. I need to clear up my mind.

My eyes fall to the now-silent robot near my feet. I scrunch down and take it with me, then sitting on the floor, leaning on the wall on the other side of the hallway.

As I try to calm down myself, I take a good look at the robot. Meowy, it called itself. The body is hard, as expected from a robot, but the major details are awesomely created to resemble the real creature. The pinkish crook on both of its head. The round head and body that are proportional to each other. The make-up-believe whisker that appears as bulges on both of its face. The tiny mouth is made up from different piece from the rest of its head, but it has continuous arch from the upper part of its head. I remember how the mouth moves when it speaks previously and I cannot stop the smile creeping up to my face.

I turn Meowy around and examine the details of its body part. The four legs are adorned with small screws, and end up with four fingers. I smile weakly at the detailed and smooth precision of each finger. The slightly coiled, short tail adorns its back, while a made-up-believe fur adorns its chest.

And he said he made this by accident?

I find my heart warms up the more I look at the robot. Following my instinct, I held it close to my chest as I stare at nothing in particular. The wall feels cold on my back, and I cannot erase the awareness that he is at the other side of the wall, mostly probably feels equally conflicted as me, if not more.

With that, I sit in silence, hugging Meowy like it is my last chance of living.

I suddenly surprise myself when my mind plays out a possibility of me without the RFA. What will it be if I quit RFA?

A memory of my usual daily life dances in my mind. My father's house. The bed where my mother slept. The now-must be-withering flower I used to water each morning. The neighbor around the house. Friends I meet every day in college… and hospital.

I promptly close my eyes when a disturbing image comes into life.

After slowing down my breath for a while, I open my eyes again, right now, I look around the bedroom, my memory provides me the scene when I was first contacted by a stranger… by Saeran. Now that I think about it clearly, I was not in the clearest mind when I picked up the phone, that time, just a little past midnight in the station, after I missed the last train home.

Standing up, I carefully put Meowy near his laptop, then walk to the bed, where the phone Saeran 'gave me' lies on the mattress.

Why would I pick this phone? Why would I agree to come into this apartment in the first place?

And the same disturbing image peeks out from the deepest of my mind. I shake it off.

Absentmindedly, I reach for my backpack at the other side of the room, and for the first time in eight days, I take my original phone. As expected, it's run out of battery. I rummage my bag deeper to find the charger, then plug it on.

If only, I never came here in the first place, what would happen?

Life, surely has its own interesting way to turn its own path.

Reality comes crashing down into me, now that Seven has asked me to leave once this is over. But can I? Can I leave everything behind?

I can't, I say to myself. I have planned to leave everything behind several times already, but I always end up coming home again and again. I let out a breath. Let's stop this. Let's not worry about things that I don't know yet. For now, I will _not_ leave him alone.


	10. Chapter 10: Day 9 0145

**Chapter 10. Day 9. 01.45**

I stare at the phone and feel my heart broken to see RFA starts to split up because of things concerning Seven and V. I let my body slumps onto the bed as I hold the phone close. I am not really familiar with V so I cannot really predict whether he is telling us the truth or not. Not that I am truly close to the other member though…

I stare at the bedroom door. Seven has not come back to his previous spot, and I don't dare to peek outside the bedroom.

Is he alright now?

I glance back at the phone and my finger hovers on his profile, contemplating whether I better call him or not.

He will probably mad of me calling him. Or maybe he refuses to take up the phone.

There is a part of me saying that I should stop caring about him. I mean, he's harsh, he's insensitive, he's angry at me many times, he's… trade his own safety for me.

I sigh.

Then I press call.

My eyes dart to the corner where he used to be, making sure that nothing flashes or beeps or vibrates there. No, his phone must be with him since it is not there.

He doesn't pick up until the third ring and I consider to hang up, when—

"…Why are you calling me again? I almost ignored it!" his yelling voice echoes from both the phone and the hallway, a perfect sign that he is indeed still inside the apartment, "I told you not to talk to me, but now you're calling me? I guess you don't think I'm serious?"

I thought he wouldn't pick up, so this reaction is better than my prediction, "I'm just wondering if you're okay," I say as calm as I can. If he still wants to pick up my phone, then there must be concern left inside him about me.

"It's time to sleep! Just go to bed!" he yells again, "I'm going to push you the more you try to come into my life. I don't care if you get hurt!"

"I don't care even if you keep pushing me away," I counter defiantly.

"What do you think you don't care? You can't change my feelings with that! Are you some kind of robot? You will get hurt! Stop hurting yourself and stop interfering with my life!" he snaps.

"Why do you even care if get hurt anyway? You don't have the right to decide who I care for," my tone unintentionally raises again.

"Why are you so interested in me?! I'm nothing!" he yells again.

"And who gave you the right to say that you're nothing?!" and now I am yelling too. No, this isn't right. I breathe slowly to control my emotion.

"You are so persistent and ridiculous,"

"Because you keep being so stubborn, Seven,"

"Never mind then… I don't want to talk any more. Do whatever you want if you want to get hurt. I warned you,"

"Thanks for the warning, but it doesn't work on me," my conviction burns strong within me.

"And I'm not going to take your calls so don't bother," he abruptly cuts off the call.

I put down the phone, loosening my grip on the fabric that I unconsciously grip so tight. Well, if he can yell like that, it means he's alright, right? Albeit physically. And even though he said he would keep pushing me away, he is still trying to have me within his reach, at least for now.

My mind resumes up everything that happened so far and I suddenly feel overwhelmed. I really need some sleep, or the gear inside my head will lose its balance.

I glance back to the door, still seeing no sign that he is about to come in.

I dig into my blanket and remember that he once draped it onto me the yesterday night. The one person who cares so much about me is the very person who is now trying to push me away.

I lie awake on my bed. Despite the fact that I am so tired, I cannot seem to stop thinking. I don't know how long I've been staring at the ceiling when a chime comes out from the phone. I glance to my side where the phone is, and instinctively reach for it, wondering who comes into the chatroom this late.

It's Seven.

Slowly, I get up and sit on the bed, contemplating whether I should join him or not.

I should.

And so, I hit the chatroom.

'MC, why are you still up?' he greets me once I enter the chatroom. Well, it's like being scolded more than being greeted.

'I was thinking about what you said to me earlier,' I type it honestly.

'I must have hurt your feelings,'

I bit my lower lip, yes, you certainly do hurt my feelings.

'I had no choice… that's the truth,'

I exhale a breath I don't I was holding. The truth, huh? Really, I don't understand what's really happening between us. Why does he have to say that?

The redhead tells me once again not to trust V, then finally, admits to RFA about the identity of the hacker that first led me here, and harmed everybody. I resist the urge to go to the hallway. There's a part of me that easily recognize how hard it is for him to talk about Saeran. But, now that everyone knows about the name 'Saeran', it is better to tell the truth than cover it up with lies.

And I believe, that, is something Seven understands completely.

'My parents were not people who could actually be parents to us,'

What? My eyes turn wider at his words. The image of my own parents comes vividly into my mind. How they love each other, and how… they lose the battle against fate. The last plane. The last day. Without knowing, I clutch my chest, trying to control my breath, calming myself down.

Seven continues explaining about his past with V and how he lost his faith in the RFA's leader. I can see through everything he's typed that right now, his priority is about finding and getting Saeran back. He cannot spare his mind to understand his own emotion. Guilt and anxiety fills him, driving him to do what he's doing right now.

All for Saeran.

I glance at his laptop, lying on the corner. He hasn't come back to bedroom for almost three hours now, but knowing him, he must have other method to continue his work even without his laptop.

'MC, please be safe and cautious so you don't get involved,' he typed, "… and go get some sleep,"

I stare at the phone as he leaves the chatroom.

I'd like to believe that somewhere in his heart, he still has concern about RFA.

No, that's a lie.

Deep inside my most selfish heart, I'd like to believe that his concern for me is real. That the feelings he 'accidentally 'showed me as 707 remains in his real self. That he still spares me a part of his mind to let my voice resounds in it, to let my face keeps popping up on his screen.

What a selfish request, I tell myself.

But, that's the truth. And for that truth, I will keep standing close to him. No one can take that truth away from me.

Albeit with a bitter smile on my face, I finally fall asleep.


	11. Chapter 11: Day 9 0930

_A/N: Warning: this is a long chapter._

* * *

 **Chapter 11. Day 9. 09.30**

I spend the whole morning to clean the house and do the laundry. I consider myself lucky since Rika left many cleaning tools inside this house. As I put the last laundry on the washing machine, I walk into the bathroom, bringing the cleaning tools and clean clothes with me.

I cannot not turn to the mirror and take a look at my eyes, happily noticing that the swelling is gone. With a hairclip, I clip my hair up so it will not bother my work. My mind keeps going back to what happen last night. At how he yells at me. At his distorted concern regarding my safety. At how he keeps pushing me away while not wanting me too far away from him.

At how finally I woke up to his typing sound again.

I shrug off the feeling as I continue scrubbing the bathroom wall, then continue with the floor. For an apartment that has been left behind for a long time, this apartment is in its prime condition, even when I first came here. Now that I think about it, somebody must be coming here over and over to… clean up?

Now that's a little weird.

V said himself that he doesn't know the number combination to open the door.

So, it must be Saeran. He must have come here several times then.

I mean, he's the one who told me the number combination, right?

My hand stops for a while. I cannot help but think that Saeran has been watching me from the very start, ever since I took the phone. I shudder at the fact and feel relieved that Seven is here with me. I spray the wall and floor with water as I continue pondering over the fragments of truth I've come across so far. Saeran was the one who led me here. How did he find me?

Oh, right. I was littering around the station at midnight after I missed the last train home.

But, why did he choose me?

Was it because I looked so desperate and lost? But still, it could be anyone. Did Saeran choose me randomly? Or is it intentional?

I shiver at the possibility that Saeran has been following me before I came to this city. But I can go anywhere in the country after everything that happened to me. The possibility of me coming here is so slim. No one led me here, that is I am sure of.

But, why do I have this uneasy hunch that someone actually led me here?

I sigh heavily. Let me think about this slowly.

After spraying the last part of cleaned floor, I smile to myself, "Perfect!" I say to no one in particular. Then I start the shower, strip off my clothes and jump into the relaxing hot water.

When I exit the bathroom several minutes later, the subtle typing voice still echoes in the apartment. Dressed in clean blue shirt and black skirt, I walk to the bedroom while drying my hair. The redhead is still on the corner of the room with his headphone on, just like when I first notice him when I woke up.

Sitting on the bed, I rub the towel onto my hair, while drilling holes on Seven's head. Then I notice him stop typing. He takes his phone and fiddle with it for some time. He turns his head a bit, and I can see that he notices me, but then he turns to the wall again. Not that I'm surprised.

Suddenly, a chime comes from the phone. I notice Seven has entered the chatroom once I pick the phone up. I take a glance at the redhead, finding him lowering his headphone. Without further hesitation, I hit the chatroom.

And this time, he greets me properly. I smile a bit then shake whatever feeling that resurfaces within me. Though, it sure feels weird that we're both here in the same room and he tries his best to pretend that I'm not here.

Yoosung comes into the chatroom and I cannot help but looking at Seven very closely as he stares at his phone, reading message by message popping up in the chatroom. As Yoosung's concern grows heavier, I cannot help but feel that something bad is going to happen.

Seven, no matter what, please do not hurt Yoosung, I chant silently.

'I said I don't need your help,' Seven types. Even if it is just a written text, I can feel his emotion is starting to go out of control. Carefully, I try to lower Yoosung's excitement when he says he wants to come to the apartment. However, my worries get stronger as the two continue debating.

And I was right. Seven finally states that he plans to leave RFA.

I would drop my phone if only he never indicated that about this plan all along. I just feel my grip on the phone gets significantly tighter, as I bore more holes on the redhead's head. There's a part of me that still wants to believe that he wasn't serious. But by saying all these to Yoosung… saying that having friends is just temporary, I guess he's serious.

As he continues pushing Yoosung away with his harsh words, something starts bubbling up inside me. I find that it is very similar to anger, so I carefully clear it away before it swallows me whole. I am not surprised that he pushes me away even in the chatroom, but to do the same thing to Yoosung… disregarding anything they have gone through together, is just… unbelievable.

Is Yoosung that unimportant for him?

This has gone too far.

The redhead half-throws his phone to the floor as he leaves the chatroom, leaving me trying but fail to console Yoosung. As Yoosung leaves the chatroom, I stare at Seven's back, then speak up.

"Seven," I keep my tone steady, "I think… you should not push Yoosung away," I pause a bit, "He's just worried about you,"

"You think I don't know?" he replies without even turning around to face me.

"Then why did you say that?" I lower my tone.

"I don't need his help. Not to mention that a good boy like him shouldn't be involved with someone like me,"

My eyes turn wider at his answer. He pushes Yoosung away because Yoosung is important to him. Something in my chest constricts painfully when this realization comes. I can vow that their friendship is not fake, and imagining that they have to part ways pains me.

"You like Yoosung so much, don't you? As a friend, as a fellow RFA member, as someone you can prank easily—" I laugh bitterly, "—Yoosung told me so much about you, and I can say that he likes you as much as you do,"

I expect him to retort, but he says nothing more, so I decide to continue, "I can understand it if you want to push away no one in particular like me, but to push Yoosung away, aren't you lying too much to yourself, Seven?"

"I never said you're no one in particular," his tone is low and intriguing.

I close my eyes for a while, trying my best to calm down the sudden burst of emotion that sweeps over me by hearing that. I should have been used to his on and off concern about me by now, but each little piece of concern he gives me pulls up my hope like it's never been crushed before.

Biting my lower lips, I struggle to keep my mind clear, and stop myself from running to him. Because it's all I want to do now. To hold him as close to me as I can, to make him understand that I am never letting him go. If Yoosung was here, he would certainly do the very same thing.

Why can't this redhead understand that we love him? Why can't he understand how precious he is to us? Why can't he believe that we want him to be with us always?

Silence hangs thickly between us and neither of us dare to break it away.

"Cheer up meow!" suddenly, a familiar high-pitched voice cracks the silence. We both turn to the once-deactivated robotic cat. It is automatically on again, and now is moving to Seven's direction, "Cheer up meow! You're with the person you like, meow!"

A person he likes? I know I should feel happy, but strangely I feel my heart broken at Meowy's remark. If Seven pushes me away to protect me because he likes me then—

"Why is this on again," he retorts in annoyance.

"I am automatically switched on when I sense depression, meow! You're with the person you like, meow!" then the robotic cat starts moving around its creator while saying 'you like, meow! You like, meow!' over and over.

I promised myself not to cry again. But a single tear comes down my cheek. I harshly wipe it away without breaking my gaze from his form.

He yells frustratedly, "Damn it, shut up!" he turns around and slams his fist to the robot, breaks it up to several parts.

I jolt at the cracking sound and run to him, "You broke it! Is your hand alright?!"

He stares at the broken robot, his expression is a mix of frustration, sadness and exhaustion. Even with his glasses on, I can see that his eyes are glistening, like he may cry anytime.

"…why did you do it? Can we fix it…?" I say as slow and careful as I walk to him. Something inside me tells me that he is just next to shattering.

He closes his eyes, "I'll throw it away later. It's useless," his voice is flat and leveled, but I can hear a very slight little tremble inside it, "And I'll be leaving soon, so just forget about me," with that he stands up and walk to the direction of the door.

I stand up and turn to him, both my mind and my heart are starting to have hard time to accept the fact of him keeping up with his continuous uncaring façade, "Why are you protecting me if you're going to leave soon? You can just leave right now!"

He stops on his track, his back is still facing me, "How are you going to stay safe on your own?! Are you even thinking right now? It's all my fault that you're in this situation…" his voice trails off at the end of his sentence. Turning around, he immediately meets my eyes, "Don't think about me, just think about protecting yourself!"

"Then…" I look into his golden orbs intensely, "If I keep being in danger, will you stay with me?"

He is visibly shocked by my words, "Why the hell did you say that?! Why do you want to be in danger?!"

I keep my gaze on him, determined not letting his words falters me.

"Your whole life will be about being nervous that someone will notice you! Is that the kind of life you stupidly want?!" he yells exasperatedly.

Is that how you've been living your life, Seven? I silently ask to no one in particular.

He exhales harshly, "You're so similar with Yoosung. You don't have a care in the world regardless of what's going on!"

Well, I care about the world! I shake my head in disapproval, "It's not that I don't care, I just want to be with you, because I like you!" I counter him defiantly.

Wait.

Did I just… confess my feeling? I mentally choke myself.

I eye him nervously, unconsciously bracing myself when he gives me a look of total disbelief.

"How many times do I have to repeat myself?! I can't be with you, MC! We can't be anything together!" he puts his hand on his forehead, clearly drown in frustration, "Everything that surrounds me is an illusion that exists in a temporary life of an agent named 707. They'll all soon fade away. My house, my cars, RFA, _you_ , this place, everything… one day they will all disappear like the morning fog," his words break my heart almost completely. I painfully watch him being stripped away from any lingering trace of masks he used to wear to face the world. Now he is standing before me as someone who cannot even love himself enough to love someone else.

"A real life, real things… don't ever think and hope those things can exist for me…" he states bitterly.

I resist the almost unstoppable drive to close our distance, despite every ounce of my fiber screams to do so. He is unconsciously baring his heart naked in front of me, in his effort to stop my growing feelings for him. Somehow, it hurts me more than hearing him spout harsh words to me for the last two days.

"Yoosung, MC, all the members of RFA… even if you say that you like me… my life…" he trails off again, "…my life can't embrace anything,"

"Luciel…" I whisper his name, unable to form longer sentence.

"You don't know how it feels to live that kind of life," he stares blankly at his hand, then closes his eyes tightly. When he opens his eyes, he looks at me straight in the eyes, "Don't be nice to me when you don't know anything! Please… get away from me! Just… leave me alone…"

"But—"

"THE PERSON YOU LIKE IS THE 707 IN THE CHATROOM, NOT ME!" he yells loudly and I find myself jolt in surprise. He abruptly turns around to leave, and my eyes turn wider. Right at that very moment, when I see his back, I see an image from my past showing my father entering the airport for the very last time, and I get a very bad hunch that if I let him go now, I won't see him ever again. The hunch is so strong that it suddenly blurs my mind almost completely.

Without even thinking further, I let go of my restrain in less than a millisecond.

I run to him, slam my body onto his back and hold him tight. I won't be able to live it if I let him go now. I cannot bear not to see him again. I feel him tense up immediately when he recognizes what I'm doing. I yell onto his back, "Then please let me understand the person in front of me!"

He trembles, but makes no movement to release himself from my grip. "MC…" he whispers my name so slowly, but I can hear it perfectly as I practically bury my face on his back. "Why are you doing this to me…?" sadness and confusion fills his voice.

I answer by tightening my grip in him, conveying everything I want to say through it.

"I told you. Even if you say that… I can't embrace anything," his voice falters, his tone is cracked up, sadness thick in his words. I keep my silence as he continues, "My life was wrong from the beginning. It's a life that's dangerous and filled with lies… I couldn't even protect my one and only brother… and I have to abandon the person I like… My life is good for nothing. I don't want to involve you in that kind of life…" his voice gets lower and lower. There is no trace of harshness he showed me earlier. Just sadness. Emptiness.

I shake my head, burying my head further onto his back.

"Why…" his voice trembles, "Why can't you understand me?"

"I like the Seven that is in front of my eyes. Regardless of how complicated your life is, I want to know," I tell him honestly. My voice also trembles a bit. Even without touching my cheek, I know trails of tears has come down.

"MC… don't do this, please…" he pleas weakly. His voice sounds so vulnerable. "I… I…" he inhales sharply, "I cherish you… I want to make you happy… but I can't…"

I bit my lower lip to swallow back a sob. My hold gets tighter, if it's even possible.

"Why do you want to be with me even when I'm a dangerous person? Why do you like me?!" he asks desperately. The trembles on his body becomes more visible.

"There is no reason. I just like you. That's how I feel," I mumble to his back.

I can hear him laughing, albeit bitterly, "…you're impossible, MC. You're so strange. I feel like I'm going strange too," he pauses for a while, "Why aren't you giving up? Why aren't you getting hurt and abandoning me…? What are you going to do if something happens to you because of me?!"

I close my eyes, "I'm okay with that. I don't regret my feelings towards you, Seven…"

I feel him relaxed a bit. Silence envelops us as the world seemingly spins around and leaves us behind, like our time just stops at the moment. It is so silent that the only voices I hear are the faint noise of his laptop's machine, the faraway speeches between people… and his frantic heartbeat.

No one of us makes any movement for God knows how long. I start to worry that he is just waiting for the right moment to escape my grip, when his hand grabs mine slowly. So slowly, as if I'm going to shatter into nothingness if he makes sudden movement.

"I don't know anymore…" he whispers as he gently loosens my grip on him. Then he turns around to face me. I quickly wipe the apparent watery trails that adorn my face. When I look up to him, his expression is indescribable. He exhales slowly, "Do what you want," his voice is just a little bit louder than a whisper, "No matter how much I push you away, I can't do anything about your feelings,"

I turn my gaze away from him.

"Nothing good will happen by being close to me. It'll be too late to regret it later,"

"I just…" I turn to face him again, looking into his golden orbs determinedly, "…I just want to focus on how I feel right now, my feelings towards you," my tone is softened by itself, and I smile a little.

To my surprise, apparent blush creeps up to his cheek. I blink in awe.

"… you shouldn't say that so easily," he remarks as the blush on his cheek gets deeper. "Damn… why are you saying that?! Why are you putting me in trouble…?" despite the confusion he brings up with the sentence, his voice is still only a little bit louder than a whisper. "I told myself I would never want to be close to someone… but you're making me feel complicated…"

Suddenly, I become self-conscious of the fact that I have just made a complete confession to someone.

He shakes his head in clear nervousness, "I can't believe that you're getting to me…"

I let out a nervous chuckle. Now my heart is hammering like crazy. Wait, heart, why now?

"God… what am I supposed to do now?" he half-whines as he buries his face to his palm.

I bit my lower lip, then takes a long breath, "First…" at this point he moves his palm and looks at me, almost like he is waiting for me to tell him what to do. Even when his gaze is a little bit unfocused like now, I cannot help but feeling self-conscious. But someone has to decide, I say to myself. So, I gather my courage to meet his gaze.

And become surprised when his gaze falters away from me.

Well, at least, I'm not the only one feeling self-conscious then.

The understanding weirdly gives me a sense of calmness, so I start again, "First… how about… you take some time and think about accepting me…?"

His eyes find mine for a little while before he closes them, as if contemplating with my suggestion. Suddenly I realize that by having confessed my true feelings to him, I don't know whether I can live it if he rejects me again. I look at him expectantly.

After a while, he opens his eyes, straightly looking at me, "Alright. I need time…"

I let out a breath I don't know I was holding, then smiles at him understandingly, "Then… I'll wait,"

"… Thank you,"

I nod.

Then…

…the awkwardness begins.

We stand there in front of each other. We're both have known that we're precious to each other. He said he cherishes me, right?

And I have practically said that I… love him.

Then what? What to do now?

Basically, a thousand options come into my mind and I virtually try to jot them down to find the most realistic option. I can't believe this kind of awkwardness follows the heartpouring! I mentally slap myself in exasperation.

Well, I'll just tell him I need to go to the other room, wherever it is.

"Then—" "Then—"

We instantly look at each other as we speak the same word at the same time. To make it weirder, we both look away also at the same time.

"I'll watch TV," "I'll take a shower,"

Four eyes turn wider. It's almost funny.

"Alright," "Okay,"

It's not just almost funny. It is funny. And with our red faces. It is too hilarious. If the situation is not this awkward, I believe we will be practically rolling on the floor, laughing so hard.

He lets out a small awkward chuckle and I cannot help but smile. I clear my throat, "I'll see you later then,"

With his nod, I exit the bedroom, he follows several steps behind me, then we part ways on the hall. When I reach the living room, he has entered the bathroom. So, I turn on the television… and bury my face to the cushion.


End file.
